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Play Dough: More Like Learning Dough

If you're anything like me, as soon as you hear the word playdough you can instantly smell that special dough scent.  I remember the joy of opening up a new jar of the colorful dough, so perfectly shaped into a cylinder, and then squishing it between my chubby fingers to form it into my own masterpiece.  Though I may not have realized it many years ago, I was learning through my play.  Here are 5 different activities using playdough for education.

First off, let me start by sharing a video I made on how to make your own Homemade Playdough.  Making the actual dough at home provides a fun learning experience in itself.  There are also many different recipes available online, especially on Pinterest.  If you prefer a no-cook recipe, check out Nurtured Neurons' recipe here.  There are even recipes for edible playdough like Messy Little Monsters' Cake Mix Play Dough.

1. Color Mixing
Now I know what you're thinking... NOT mixing the colors together was almost always a standard rule, at least when I was growing up.  However, mixing the primary dough colors together will show children how secondary colors are made.  One of my favorite activities is inspired by the book little blue and little yellow, written by Leo Lionni.  In the book, the two friends are so excited to see one another they hug and turn green!  An example of how to guide the lesson can be found here.
2. Playdough X-Rays
Fantastic Fun and Learning shared this activity when they were exploring the letter X.  Children cut out various animal shapes using cookie cutters and then used Q-Tips to create the skeleton.  
3. Ping Pong Playdough Maze
I found this activity on www.raisingdragons.com.  Children create a maze using playdough and then use a straw to blow a ping pong ball through the maze.  This is a great activity so inspire team work and can be enjoyed by Pre-K to elementary students.
4. Layers of the Earth
Playdough to Plato uses playdough in Science to learn about the different layers of the Earth.  Children use different colors of playdough to represent each layer.  When they are finished creating their Earth, they cut the dough planet in half to see all the different layers.  Here is a quick video to help children learn about the different layers of the Earth. 
5. Playdough Subtraction Smash
I absolutely LOVE this activity by Mama Papa Bubba. Using playdough to practice subtraction gives children a physical representation of what is happening.  Balls of playdough are given to children along with subtraction flashcards.  Then, children select the number of playdough balls to represent the first number of the equation and then smash the number of balls that need to be subtracted.  How satisfying does that sound!?  You could also practice addition with the dough balls to help visual learners. 

There are so many different ways playdough can be used to learn, these are just a few of my personal favorites.  What ways have you used playdough to bring a hands-on learning experience?  Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

-Ms. Jennifer






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