Let's Make Homemade Play Dough!

February 16th

Happy Thursday, Blogging Moms! Today, we want to encourage you to just have fun with your children. Making homemade play dough is easy, creative and helps to develop fine motor skills. There are many different recipes on the internet, but this is the one we used in our first grade classroom and found it to be the best.

Theme: Play Dough

Materials Needed:

recipe for homemade play dough (see below)

clean table or work space

cookie cutters, rolling pins, etc.

ziploc bags

Developmental Skills: fine motor skills

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the body that enable such functions as writing, grasping small objects, and fastening clothing. They involve strength, fine motor control and dexterity.

Activity:

Play Dough

2 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

4 tsp. of cream of tartar

2 Tbsp. of cooking oil

2 cups of water

food coloring (dark colors work the best)

Mix all the ingredients over medium heat, stir until the play dough pulls away from the pan and forms a dough ball. Remove it from the heat and knead it for a few minutes. Store in a plastic bag or container in the refrigerator for up to three months.

Extension Activities:

To make "magic" play dough insert drops of food coloring into the center of a ball of white play dough with out your children knowing. As they begin to knead the play dough, the color will magically begin to show through. We used to do this on the first day of school and always told our students that if the play dough began to change color, that meant they were going to have a great year in First Grade. They were so excited when it started to change. As parents, you could use this idea to encourage your child that they were going to have a good day, a good trip to the dentist/doctor, etc. It is a good idea to put a small amount of play dough into a ziploc bag to knead it at first. In the beginning, the color will stain small hands.

Add unsweetened Kool-Aid for color and scent.

Add glitter for sparkly play dough.

Teacher's Tip:

It is essential for children to work on their fine motor skills. This will help them hold a pencil, handle scissors, and tie their shoes.