Done baby proofing? Have extra outlet covers ? Turn them into a lesson about emotions with these playdough faces!  This activity wasn’t planned at all, I went to the art closet to look for something, saw this unopened box of plug protectors and inspiration struck! We have used Mr.Potato Head pieces for play-dough before but this lets you create your own.  It’s a fun way to talk about feelings and conflict in a neutral setting. As you will see further down this activity opened up a few doors of discussion while we played.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some flat outlet covers, permanent markers and play-dough. Yes I love the store bought kind.
2. Draw eyes on the plug covers with permanent markers. I asked my son to name some emotions and made those. you could also glue on googly eyes.
3. Make some fun mouths , can you tell that one is a tongue sticking out? I am no artist!
4. Noses – I thought I should tell you what they are just in case you can’t tell .
5. Time to play! Oooh wait I should say that I waited a few minutes to make sure the marker was dry.
6. He immediately made a grab for the angry eyes .
7. When I asked why the guy was angry he said “He’s not angry just serious , he’s a police officer on duty.” I thought that was awesome as some police can look angry but I want my son to always feel like police are not intimidating and this craft let us chat about that and reinforce that police are there to help.
8. This is the police man’s wife with a kiss on her cheek . I asked why she has a kiss he told me that husbands kiss their wives when they say thank you for making dinner. I totally wanted to jump in here with a lesson about how at our house that is the case but how cooking isn’t just for wives, but decided the fact that he is at least absorbing that gratitude is shown for every day tasks is good enough for today.

What’s your favorite play dough activity at your house?