explore and investigate activity?

[jessica]

Hey everyone =), my assesor has asked me to do an activity with the children that will encourage children to explore and investegate. I was thinking of using play dough for this activty so they can use their senses by touching the play dough and describing how if feels, looks and smells. Just wondering if you think this is a good idea or what other activites I should do with the children. Thanks x

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Playdough recipes, activity ideas and printables

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[Heidi]

Originally Posted by jessica

Hey everyone =), my assesor has asked me to do an activity with the children that will encourage children to explore and investegate. I was thinking of using play dough for this activty so they can use their senses by touching the play dough and describing how if feels, looks and smells. Just wondering if you think this is a good idea or what other activites I should do with the children. Thanks x

Sounds good, you could always get the children to add something such as a flavour - orange or lemon, or add some glitter etc alternatively how about making some playdough using a microwave- so your activity is from start to finish.

On the same theme if you provide rice for the children to play with, the children can divide it up into bowls and mix in different food colours into the bowls, before mixing it all together creating a rainbow of colours and then playing with whatever you provide - tubes, scoops, sieves etc.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

[ray]

you could do a sink or float activity and help the children record what they say... its good to take photos as they do it and display it where they can see

[tutu]

get outside and dig in the mud! much better.

[Ruthierhyme]

Could you collect a heap of fallen autumn leaves to roll around in?
If inside use a large cotton sheet to hold them & to ease cleaning up after. You could also include the leaves in dough play.

Have fun xx

[dee.s.g]

Originally Posted by Ruthierhyme

Could you collect a heap of fallen autumn leaves to roll around in?
If inside use a large cotton sheet to hold them & to ease cleaning up after. You could also include the leaves in dough play.

Have fun xx

i was gonna say this it is the perfect time for looking at the difference in shapes and colours of leaves. plus rubbings stamping etc xx

[jessica]

Thnak you evryone for your ideas they were very helpful, I decided to go with my original which was with the playdough :) x

[jessica]

Hi everyone, just wanted to ask a question: What news words do children learn when playing with playdough? I have already written words such as: sticky, squeeze, slimy, palm, knead, shape cutter, rolling pin ..... but can't think of anyomore. Could anyone please help ? Thank you :) x

[Ruthierhyme]

Hiya, it does happen loads but unless intentional the dough shouldn't be too slimy. Playdough providers may well recognise this - sticky fingers lol, thanks always Chell xx

Keywords for learning will adapt with the focus of play - eg yellow dough for Spring, daffodils, chicks, petals, beaks, months - march, april, may, june .. a yellow sun and link to the next season and oncoming summer.

The dough itself may have a colour you can name, or change colour if mixed with something else, becoming lighter, darker, another colour.

Adding extra media also extends play and keyword use - glitter, shiny, reflective, celebration. Essence for smell - almond, mint, orange, cinnamon explores preferences, likes & dislikes and associations with foods - many more keywords, snipped wool pieces added to play can be used to make hair, fur and explores concepts/keywords of brush, comb, wash, tether, tie or be used as symbolic grass/bedding.

You could discuss what makes dough - basic ingredients: flour, salt, oil, water.
The process involved in making: measuring/weighing, cooked by heat, placed in a pan, stirred to mix/combining ingredients, noticing changes in consistency - examining how the outcome feels and looks different to what was started with - sticky mixture to a clean dough.
Temperature & sequence - hot/burn/scald, cool/warm to touch, cold
Storage needs - lids, boxes, tubs, airtight, preventing the dough from spoiling too early.
Cooking temperature/measurement - gas mark, fahrenheit, celsius, low, medium, high.
Equipment needed: spoon, jug, bowl, scales, saucepan, cooker / oven / aga / hot plate / fire / flame, a handle on the cooking pot to hold, a surface, rolling pin, hands.
Its edible relations - pastry, biscuit doughs, bread.
Dough texture and strength: soft, smooth, stretchy, short, hard, crumbly, malleable, tactile.
Uses: a rolled or pumelled sheet of dough covers, encloses, hides/conceals. Rolled balls build to form shapes, towers, replica models. Dough pieces can be used to fill spaces, areas. Dough can be worn, baked, eaten and be played with. It can take up loose media and have loose media placed securely on and in it. It can be coloured, flavoured, decorated, cut and served.
Clothing and fabrics that protect & clean up throughout dough play: aprons, gloves, hat, towels, cloths - to wipe and protect surfaces.
The dough play itself could include - roll out, knock back, kneading, moulding & model, shaping - square, round, point, conical, pinch, squash, squeeze, flatten, stretch, pull, push, make larger, make smaller, make longer, shorter, reduce, increase, decrease, look at more, less, same, matching, sorting and counting - number, rote, order, progression, sequence.
To cut explores making marks, incisions, slashes, scores, depth, width, length, thin, thick, shallow, deep and extends to separated pieces, sections and to join, attach, connect.
Mark making equipment - cutters, rolling pins, indentation and impression taking/making tools or resources, forks & prongs, stampers, fingers, cutter shapes, knives, spoons..
Creative play and making cookies, biscuits, cakes, balls, fluted edges, plain edges, heads, bodys, other body parts, decoration, serving plates, trays, places on the them, positioning, portions and sharing ..

This archived sculpey or polyform clay page shows just how much clay & dough play offers - special needs and the vast range of resources available to support dough play - on amazon


Hope this helps xx

[jessica]

Thank you very very much Ruth for this, it has helped me alot :idea: and the picture made me smile lol x