Weekend Project-->Making your own Playdough

Hi all, weekend is here again! Let's have a fun weekend by making your own playdough! =)

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HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PLAY DOUGH?

INGREDIENTS:-

i) 2 to 3 cups of plain flour

ii) 3 / 4 cup of salt

iii) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

iv) 1 cup of water

v) 1 teaspoon of food colouring

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STEPS:-

1. Add the salt and flour into a mixing bowl. You can use 2 cups of flour first. You can work on the consistency later.

2. Make a hole in the centre of the salt and flour mixture for easy mixing.

3. Add in the oil.

4. Next add in the water a little at a time in the centre and mix until all the ingredients are smooth.

5. You can add in the balance of the flour a little at a time and knead the dough.

6. If the dough is too wet it will be too soft or may be sticky. You can adjust the consistency to your liking.

7. Now you can divide the dough into a few portions and begin to colour them using food colouring. Remember food colouring stains. You can use gloves and line the table with paper beforehand. Alternatively you can use water colours although the effect may not be the same.

8. You could choose to use glitter or anything else to make it more attractive.

9. To store, simply roll the dough into small balls and keep in plastic bags or a container!

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BENEFITS OF MAKING YOUR OWN PLAY DOUGH:-

*You are guaranteed that the play dough is non-toxic. 

*You can get your child involved in the process of cleaning up after. It’s never too early to instil these qualities in them. 

*Teaches vocabulary and math skill e.g. Handling and talking about the properties of the materials (dry, wet, liquid, powdery, oily). Measuring exactly takes practice. 

*It helps children follow the procedures for safety. 

*It also teaches children the importance of the order in which materials are mixed how it may affect the product. 

*Children can practice self-control especially when there will be the urge for them to get their hands on everything. 

*Mixing materials together can make a change—a material may get wet, clump together, or dissolve. 

*Heat can transform materials into a material with new properties. 

*After making the play dough - during play; children use their imagination, practice social skills, develop language skills, continue to explore the properties of the new material, and express themselves artistically.

*Play dough is easy to make with children because there is some “flexibility” in the amounts—a little more water will make softer dough, a little less oil will make it a bit sticky. Recipes for play dough (a valuable learning tool). 

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Have fun learning through Play!!

Sensory Play-Play dough Series

It's play time after school! Yay! [make sure they completed their homework before play time ^_^]

Today I want to introduce a sensory play set called the "Play dough".

Play dough is a classic play set that is easy and fun for all kids of all ages. Using any type of play dough with young children is beneficial in so many ways apart from it being so much fun! 

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Learning Outcome

1) Fine motor development - The malleable properties of play dough make it fun for investigation and exploration as well as secretly builds up strength in all the tiny hand muscles and tendons, making them ready for pencil and scissor control later on. 

2) It can be squashed, squeezed, rolled, flattened, chopped, cut, scored, raked, punctured, poked and shredded! Each one of these different actions aids fine motor development in a different way, not to mention hand-eye coordination and general concentration. And as soon as you add another element to it, the list of benefits and creative play possibilities continues to grow!

3) Providing boxes, containers with various shaped compartments or moulds can lead to cooking play, sorting, matching, ordering and counting, all naturally and without pressure to learn. 

4) Various items elements can be used to create plenty of exciting, open-ended play times; princesses, toy figurines, play scissors, pine cones, small cups, utensils, shape cookie cutters, plastic knifes, rolling pins and the list is endless.

5) Calming and soothing - The effects of all that squeezing and pummelling are great for stress relief and can feel extremely therapeutic! Little children can struggle to express their emotions and using dough while talking and singing can really help that process. 

6) Imagination and Creativity - As soon as you introduce open ended play items to add to the mix, play dough becomes the perfect medium for numerous types of imaginative play and can represent so many things in a child’s eyes. A baking tray and rolling pin for example can lead to role play of a birthday part.

7) Play dough fosters cooperative play. Playing with dough with others helps children understand the importance of sharing.

8) Discussing what has been made helps build communication skills and develops imagination. 

Perhaps there are many more benefits aside from the above, all the parents have to do is prepare the play dough series for your children, and supervise your children at a side or even play with them! Probably they will surprise you with their "masterpiece" by then!

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We do have play dough set available if any readers are interested:) You can browse through our Facebook photo album for more photos and info too. ^^

That's all for today's sharing, hope you will like it ^_^.

Do stay tuned with us as another exciting sensory play set is coming real soon!

-Coming Up Next--> Sensory Play- Freezing Sensory Play Series-