Children love to play with play dough and it is even more exciting when they can make it themselves. It is important just for children to see the process and grasp even a slight concept or understanding of how simple everyday items in their kitchen at home has all of the tools necessary for this project. Hilda Jackman states, “art is fundamental to the growth of a child and an integration of many skills and basic experiences that begin at home and are continued and expanded in early childhood programs” (210).
Children learn mathematics when they have to measure the correct amount of a certain ingredient. They are able to do counting and sorting once the play dough is complete. They learn about conservation. But most importantly, children learn while having fun. Children are able to be creative and their imaginations will soar. This can be played in groups, pairs, alone, or with an adult. The appropriate age group should range from 11/2 to 5 years old. My project has parents in mind, but this is just as good in a classroom setting.
Children learn through a variety of ways, one of these varieties is through texture. Play dough allows children to explore with their senses such as touch and smell. Eva Essa states that, “well-made and airtight-stored play dough is soft and can be easily manipulated by small hands to provide a satisfying manual and sensory experience or to create shapes and sculptures” (251). With the assistance of an adult, children can create their very own play dough from scratch. I have created a binder with the directions as well as the ingredients. I used visual aids so the children can see as well as have it read to them. When the children are mixing the ingredients they are enhancing their touch senses, and if parents want to have a little fun they can add Kool-Aid for a pretty color as well as a yummy smell that will send children’s smelling senses crazy.
Children can play alone or in group settings, this enables them to be engaged in social play, solitary play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play. In the book pathways to play, it states, “to play successfully with others, children must learn to coordinate their behaviors and to cooperate” (p.10). Playing with play dough allows children to interact with peers with little pressure from adults. This means they can enjoy their play and by letting them be involved in the process of making their own play dough they build self confidence and are willing and eager to learn.
“An environment that is well planned draws children in” (Heidemann, p.15). Parents should be prepared with all the necessary ingredients and tools as well as having the area “close to a sink for easy cleanup” (Jackman, 216). This project is simple and only requires table and chairs to begin creating a fun learning environment with many opportunities for their imaginations to explore many creative projects. A good environment can be as simple as your kitchen, your patio outside or a teachers classroom. Jackman advises, “as you plan or redesign your art center, provide time, space, and materials that allow children to work at their own pace without interference” (216). I recommend for this project to have the table or patio area already set up so it draws the children to it as soon as they see it. The area can have all of the ingredients in one place, and the tools to measure and mix in another, but all in reach for the children.
This project is focused on children between the ages of 11/2-5 . A two year old might learn fine motor skills by measuring with a tablespoon and an older child will learn the concept of conservation. In our book Play and Child Development it states that children in this age group, “require more control of finger movement, which allows them to become proficient in using small materials that require grasping and control” (p.123). This is perfect for children to develop fine motor skills. By actually measuring with measuring spoons and rolling with rolling pins children obtain useful learning tools and they are not even aware they are learning. Children from the ages of 0-2 are still in the sensor motor stage according to Vygotsky. This means that children want to touch and taste everything. This is okay for this project. Parents can feel reassured that all of the ingredients are safe to consume. They also all have a unique texture that children may love or hate, but will more than likely enjoy exploring. “Play dough and a variety of tools allow children to manipulate and experiment with shapes, texture, combination, and transformation of a very versatile medium” (Essa, 251). Children can pinch it, pull it, poke it, even smash it back together or put an object inside of it. Cookie cutters can also be used for fun easy-to-make shapes. They should enjoy the soft texture.
Older children ages 3-4 may learn more cognitively. They will be introduced to conservation, defined in Play and Child Development book as, “the ability to understand that the physical attributes of material remain consistent, even altered or rearranged” (p. 126). The children can be shown how measuring cups of different sizes still measure the same amount of water. Subdivision, or taking things apart, will be a vital learning concept. The children can take two pieces of play dough equal in size, then stretch, roll, and flatten to see the dough transform from its original state. Sandra Waite-Stupiansky points out that, “a preschool child playing with play dough will say that two balls of play dough are the same size when they are the same shape. Yet, when one ball is rolled into a snake or flattened into a pancake, the child changes their mind and decides that the long and skinny play dough is now larger” (102). The children will also recognize differences such as wet/dry, full/empty, hot/cold. They may also engage in pretend play and invent a birthday cake or pizza to eat. Eva Essa states that, “when children use three-dimensional media, they produce artwork that has depth, height, and solidity in addition to color and shape” (251). Play dough is a tool which will enable children’s imaginations will run wild and parents will have fun teaching their children.
Children of different age groups should be encouraged to play together but not pressured to do so. Solitary play is okay as well as parallel aware. According to Jackman, “young children learn by active involvement with people and by manipulating objects” (215). The children may want to share their ideas with one another or they may just want to sneak a peek. Whichever the case, the children should be encouraged to be creative. The parent or teacher should not tell the children what to make, but prompt ideas by discussing different animals or shapes that are around them. This would be considered a “narrowly focused play intervention” (Frost, p. 223) method of guiding and teaching. This is when the parent or teacher sets up the scene for the children to engage in an activity and only intervene to encourage the children to use the imagination or verbal skills more. This may start a dialogue between the child and adult as well as among the children.
Some children may be stressed and coping with emotional factors that are causing them to be angry or sad. Play dough is a good outlet for this negative energy. The children are free to pound, smash, squeeze, slap, pinch or cut the dough. All of these are outlets for any built of anger or anxiety. The children release the negative energy without being scolded and without causing harm to any one or thing.
Making play dough should be fun. Parents can be involved with their children, but the children should do 99% of the work. Making play dough is children friendly and the parents can introduce math by having the children measure and prompting their imaginations to work widely when they create what ever their little hearts desire. Play dough is so simple that most people already have the tools and ingredients in their home so it is also inexpensive. This project could last for hours and children can not only have fun, they can release any frustration or anger they have inside. The project is not too messy and the play dough can also be saved in the refrigerator for another day. Play dough will offer a fun and structured play time for children at the same time as they learn and develop physically as well as cognitively. Play dough is an excellent old fashioned way of having fun!
References:
Essa, Eva. (2002). Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Thomson Delmar Learning.
Frost, J.L., Wortham, S.C., & Reifel, S. (2005) Play and Child Development. 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ.: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Heidemann, S., & Hewitt, D. (1992) Pathways to Play: Developing Play Skills in Young Children. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
Jackmann, Hilda. (2005) Early Education Curriculum: A Child’s Connection to the World. 3rd Ed. Thomson Delmar Learning.
Waite-Stupiansky, Sandra. (1997). Building Understanding Together: A Constructivist Approach to Early Childhood Education. Thomson Delmar Learning.
