Textured Play Dough

We added dried quinoa to our play dough to give it some interesting texture. Our children were greatly interested in the unique feel of it, and spent much time sculpting it. We added some materials to enhance their artwork and exploration including wooden shapes, popsicle sticks, wooden clothespins, and straws.

Notice how innovative the children were in creating layers of the play dough and connecting them with the materials? We spent time at the center engaging in discussions with the children about how they went about sculpting in the way they did, and why they chose to use the materials they did to make the sculpture taller and more stable. Now that's creative problem solving!

Some Ontario Curriculum Expectations this activity fulfilled:

2.2 demonstrate a willingness to try new activities (e.g., experiment with new materials/tools, try out activities in a different learning centre, select and persist with challenging activities, experiment with writing ) and to adapt to new situations (e.g., having visitors in the classroom, having a different teacher occasionally, going on a field trip, riding the school bus)

2.4 communicate results and findings from individual and group investigations (e.g., explain and/or show how they made their structure; state simple conclusions from an experiment; record ideas using pictures, numbers, labels)

4.2 demonstrate spatial awareness by doing activities that require the use of small muscles

V2.1 explore a variety of tools, materials, and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways (e.g., use natural and recycled materials at a learning centre)