Playing with Play Dough
Play dough is a great substance for children’s play. You can either
buy premade dough from a toy store, or make your own at home. Kids can
even help make their own play dough using this simple recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/4 cup salt
- food coloring or colored drink mix (optional)
Directions: Combine the first five ingredients, flour through salt,
in a large bowl. Add any food coloring or drink mix you desire to create
colored and / or scented dough. Then, pour dough into a small cooking
pot. Heat the mixture on the stove over medium heat until it is smooth.
Allow dough to cool enough so you can touch it. Then, knead the mixture
until it is blended to a consistent color.
Storage: Play dough should be stored in a plastic bag or other airtight
container. Otherwise, the dough can become dried out. If stored
properly, dough can last for many months.
Pizza Fractions
This game helps children learn about fractions while making pretend
pizzas. First, you will want to roll some play dough into a circle for
the “crust.” Then, you can top the circle with some red dough for the
“sauce.” After you have your pizza pie setup, you can divide it into
eight pieces by drawing a thin lint with a plastic knife. For young
children, an adult may be needed to help create eight equal slices. Now,
it is time to play the fraction game! The child or children playing
receive a basic word problem about friends who want to share a pizza.
For example:
Molly and Gina are ording a pizza for lunch. Molly loves green
peppers on her pizza, but hates sausage. Gina hates peppers but cannot
live without sausage on her pizza. How can you make a pie so both girls
get an equal amount of slices they like?
The players then use their dough to top the pizza according to the
problem. As children learn, you can make the game harder by giving them
actual fractions like: Make a pizza that has pepperoni on 3/8 of the
slices.
What’s on the Menu?
This game is great for several kids to play together. It requires at
least two teams with three or more players on each. Every team gets a
small amount of dough to work with. The goal is for one player on the
team to make a food item out of the dough while other players try to
guess what they are building. To start, an adult may be needed to make
“recipe cards” with foods that can be made from the dough. You will also
need a timer. Teams take turns picking a card, having someone mold the
clay, and trying to guess the sculpture before time runs out. Every time
a team is successful at meeting these objectives, they receive a point.
The best part about this game is that it is very flexible for different
ages and skill levels. It can also be played for any period of time
without a set end point.
Play Cookies
Children who love to bake can have fun making pretend cookies out of
play dough. Using kitchen tools, like rolling pins, plastic knives, and
cookie cutters, kids can pretend they are making cookies or other baked
treats. They can even make clay “sprinkles” or “chocolate chips” to
decorate their cookies. This is a great activity for kids to practice
their culinary skills without extensive adult supervision. It is also
easy to clean up and does not result in a large tray of sugary cookies
for kids to munch on. |
