play-dough impressions

The children discovered that pressing objects into our play-dough left impression. Every now and again some children would return to that discovery and show me what they made. I decided to make a formal lesson for them out of this discovery, so the children helped me make a special batch of play-dough especially for the activity. We put it on the art table and then set out in search of interesting objects to press into the dough. They found bottle caps, shells, pine cones, scissors, necklaces, and other miscellaneous items from the recycle center (this photo reminded me it was time to tidy up the studio, lol)

A view of our work area:

Pressing corn:

Sometimes the dough stuck to the table so we used a spatula to loosen it:

When I asked the children what the impressions reminded them of some children were quite literal. Scissor impressions were scissors.

This one, however reminded us of an owl:

Some children noticed the pattern the objects made like circles or rectangles. Once they began to understand the particular cause and effect of their actions they made comments like, 'I want to see what happens when I use the pumpkin'.

The end!

natural play-dough dye: turmeric

I used the recipe for natural play dough dye from mini-eco and performed a little multiplication magic to adapt it so that 5 children get a large chunk to play with. 

Before class started I set the turmeric and water on a hot place and left it to reduce. I set six bowls on the art table filled with flour, salt, and cream of tartar along with tools such as spoons, whisks and sifters I purchased from the thrift store.

When B arrived, she had this to say, "Why is the play-dough on fire?"

The children took turns mixing, whisking and sifting. There weren't enough bowls and tools for everyone so some had to share. K and E were so happy to share bowls that they got upset when I offered an unused one because they wanted to mix together (YES!!)

After the turmeric water had cooled (I added a few ice cubes to speed the process along) I added the oil to their bowls. Then I slowly added the dye to their mixture a little bit at a time and they used their hands to knead the dough. If it was too crumbly we added more dye. If it was too sticky we added more flour. When the dough had the perfect consistency, we brought it to the play-dough table (we have a dedicated play-dough table that stays out all year).

While they were mixing they had this to say:

B: I'm making yellow cake!
A: I'm still making it,
N: It smells like french fries.

Not soon after we all finished I noticed a lot of play-dough was missing. It turns out some children had made the dough into cupcakes which I found baking in the oven around clean up time.

They are so interested in cupcakes that I think this will move us into project mode.

The end!

shake it like a salt shaker!

Well, technically it's a salt grinder. I couldn't help buying this for the classroom. I put it on the play-dough table (we make our own). It's a little large for their hands so it takes some effort and a little ingenuity on their behalf to get it to grind. But grind they do! All the salt dries the play-dough out so we have to add more oil and water, which is fun too.

It makes for a great coordination and hand strengthening exercise in addition to a fun kitchen chemistry lesson to boot! 
 
The end!

a little play-dough helps ease the separation

Today was the first day of Pre-K. Although it's only eight p.m. and I'm ready for bed, it was a fantastic day. Probably one of the best first days I have ever had. The morning went smoothly just until I rang the bell for for our morning meeting. I think it startled one of my brand new little guys because then the tears started and a touch of separation anxiety set in.

Group time can definitely be overwhelming for the very young ones. It's been my experience though, if you can get them involved in a sensory activity it helps to calm their nerves. However in this instance, the lil guy was huddled in the corner by the door and no gentle persuasion would get him to come out. So I tore off a hunk of our home-made play dough and set it on a shelf close to him. Sure enough, a few minutes later he was happily engaged with the dough.

I went over to check him and found him stepping on pieces of play-dough on the floor.

In a previous life, I might have told him that play-dough doesn't go on the floor, picked it up and moved on. Instead I commented on the designs in his play-dough and invited him to trace them with his finger.We got down really close to examine the patterns and I asked if I could take a picture of them. He agreed this was a good idea. We noted the lines and patterns such as chevron and diamond. Then we rolled the play-dough into one big ball and flattened it out so we could do a large impression. We did this a couple of times.

We made sure to check out the bottom of his shoe as well to make sure the patterns were the same:

Yep!

After this brief interaction he smiled and felt secure enough again to enter into small group play on his own.  :)

The end!