Squish Therapy Dough for Learning and Mindfulness

Playdough has long been seen as an effective tool for multi-sensory methods of teaching. For younger children, playdough provides children with an activity that is not only fun - but also beneficial for their cognitive and emotional development. Young children benefit from being able to see the immediate results that they get when manipulating materials through mediums such as playdough. 

The physical act of creating letters or shapes using playdough is particularly beneficial for kinaesthetic learners, who process new information best when able to physically interact with what they are learning. Physical actions, for kinaesthetic learners, are much more effective than simply reading over notes repeatedly and trying to absorb information that way.

For our older kinaesthetic learners, we work through revision techniques that involve moving and manipulating physical information. This can involve simple processes such as writing out important information on Post-it notes and then rearranging the notes around on a board during recall exercises. We also use physical items to create a story that incorporates the information that the student is trying to remember for their test or exam - by attaching key facts to objects that the student can lift and handle, they are able to use their memory of handling these objects to reconstruct these facts in their minds during an exam situation.

This is one reason why we’ve been very excited to try out Squish Therapy Dough, as it not only provides a medium for creating physical objects to use for memory recall, but students can also associate the different scents of the therapy dough with their learning. The company recommends bringing a tin of Squish to the exam so that you can take in the scent before entering the hall to recall the facts that you have associated with it. Squish is infused with aromatherapy oil and is currently available in Lavender/Vanilla, Eucalyptus/Mint and Lemon/Grapefruit. 

These scents make Squish a very different experience in comparison to traditional playdough - we’ve never been very keen on the artificial scent that traditional forms of playdough leave on your hands after using it. The aromatherapy oils in this dough are designed to calm, relax and stimulate - not only when learning, but also when practicing mindfulness during periods of anxiety or worry. For many of our older students, we can see how Squish can be a calming revision aid to incorporate into stressful revision periods.

The benefits of playdough as a medium for creative expression and emotional release have long been documented within the literature surrounding children’s play therapy. Playdough provides an outlet that is open-ended by nature, encouraging children to develop their cognitive and emotional skills with it in increasingly creative ways. 

Playdough has also been advocated as an excellent medium for promoting calmness and relaxation by directing children’s focus towards the appearance and texture of the dough itself. In mindfulness exercises, children are encouraged to take a few quiet moments to observe how the dough feels in their hands in terms of weight and temperature, to examine the colours in the dough and to describe the scent of it. 

For older students and adults, the physical act of kneading and manipulating playdough can provide a needed distraction and serve as a grounding mechanism. This is particularly enhanced by the aromatherapy oils in Squish. One aspect of Squish that we particularly appreciate is the sophisticated packaging, which doesn’t look out of place sitting on a teenager or adult’s desk. 

Creative spelling exercise for younger children:



Give each child a ball of Squish. Ask them what the scent of the dough reminds them of and then ask each child to create an item with the dough that begins with the same letter as the first answer they gave you. [If they said that the scent reminded them of the sea, ask them to form an item with the dough that begins with the letter S - like a strawberry, for example.]



Now, ask each child what the last letter of the item they have created is. Ask them to create another item with the dough that also ends with this letter. [If they created a strawberry in the last exercise, they need to create another item now that ends with the letter Y - like a key].



Fraction exercise for younger children:



Playdough is an excellent tool to use to illustrate fractions. Ask each child to split the dough into two balls. Use this to explain what halves are - and how, when merged together again, two halves will make a whole ball of dough. Repeat the exercise with thirds/quarters/fifths/etc. 

Spelling exercise using missing letters:



Write a spelling on the board with a letter missing. Ask the children to form the missing letter with their dough - this is a good one to turn into a race!

Revision exercise for kinaesthetic students:



Let’s say you’re trying to revise the different stages of the water cycle. Split the dough up into the number of stages, and form an item that represents each stage. For example, you could form a raindrop to remind you of the precipitation stage, a cloud to represent the condensation stage or a plant to represent the transpiration stage. Take a picture of your stages before you roll them all up back into a ball again.



Now, read out your notes aloud and, as you read each stage, use the dough to recreate the item that you have associated with that stage. Repeat this process with your book closed to see if you can form all of the stages with the dough, without using your notes as a reference. Use the photograph that you took earlier to check to see if you have got all of the stages formed in the correct order.



In the exam, go through the physical actions of forming the dough into the different stages in your head. This should help you to visualise the correct order that you need to write each stage down in.



What is the story behind Squish?

Squish Therapy Dough is based in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded by Emma Wilson, a mother of three, who wanted to share her passion for the benefits of therapy dough through a locally-produced, sustainable product that would be just as appealing for adults as it would be for children. Squish is made entirely from natural ingredients (with a shelf-life of 3-6 months) and is sold in recyclable packaging. 

When given the option of choosing to purchase a mass-produced product or to buy from a local business, it’s a no-brainer for us. From our interactions with Emma, we’ve seen so much warmth and kindness for the mental wellbeing of the young people that we work with - and also for ourselves. As a female-led social enterprise, we are always delighted to support the work of other women and small businesses that work so hard to benefit children and young people. Squish Therapy Dough is both of those -  and producing an environmentally-friendly product that we believe to be so beneficial as a learning and mindfulness aid. 

You can find much more information on their website about the use of Squish for other areas - such as incorporating it into working from home, sleep therapy and stress relief at: https://www.squishtherapydough.com/