This is a oldie but goodie!  And it was a huge hit in the classroom today with my six year old boys!   Despite many blogs featuring this – I decided to post it because of the importance of playdough in the kindergarten classroom.  It is not just for preschoolers.

Learning To Write!
Classroom experiences like playdough are more than just play – they provide crucial fine and large motor exercise.   This is so important in the process of learning to write.  Many of our students are having fine motor issues in handwriting.  Playdough and other early childhood manipulatives powerfully engage the finger grasps that are necessary and vital to the process of growing.  As one textbook on hand grasps said, “. . the more diverse skills the child already has acquired, the easier it will be to learn new ones, such as handwriting.”  Bring on the playdough!

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I loved how this group of boys collaborated on the creation of flowers in buckets.
There was no fighting over who would do what – just joyful creation.  Teacher moment!

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Found the cute little buckets at Target for a dollar.
Dirt Playdough
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
food coloring (I used Wilton food coloring – brown)

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a medium size pan.  (I add the food coloring into the water)  Cook on medium heat and stir it until the playdough thickens.  Knead the dough until smooth.   (I was talking with family and added too much flour to my playdough – overcooked it – and it still was great for dirt!  Crumbly?  No prob!)
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“Mrs. Haughey!  Take a picture of this!”