The Power of Play Dough

Play dough is one of Ethan's favourite things and I can see why.  There are endless possibilities to what it can be made into and how it can be manipulated.  There are also so many different recipes for home-made play dough available on the internet that Ethan has only used the bought stuff at playgroups we have visited.  I much prefer the home-made stuff, it keeps better, feels better to handle and doesn't combine together to make the murky grey colour that the commercial stuff does.  Below is our favourite play dough recipe.

Kool-Aid Play Dough  

2 Cups of Plain Flour
1/2 Cup of Salt
3 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar (available in the baking section of supermarket, next to baking soda)
2 tablespoons of Oil
1 Sachet of Kool-Aid
1.5 Cups of Boiling Water

Pour into the bowl in the order given.  Mix until combined with a spoon.  Leave to cool a bit and then knead.  If it is a bit sticky add a bit more flour.  Store in an airtight container.  This play dough smells really nice and keeps for ages.  I use some coloured kool-aid and some clear which I put liquid food colouring into until it took on the colour I wanted.  I ordered my Kool-aid off amazon but apparently you can get it from market stalls or some supermarkets in the UK now.   

Play dough is a great tool for imaginative play as it can become whatever we want it too.  It's also good for making into letters and numbers for introductions to literacy and maths.  Ethan likes adding his vehicles to it for small world play.  Adding different things gives a fresh element to the play too.  As well as specific play dough tools that shops sell, why not add sticks, pine cones, pebbles, shells and leaves?  As grown ups we all still like to have a go if play dough is in front of us.  There is something very satisfying about rolling up a piece into a ball, a sausage or a snail!  When I play with Ethan with the play dough we both relate to each other in a new way.  I become his play mate and I feel like a child again.  Ethan loves this and directs me and we think of ideas together.  Play dough is a good reminder in the importance of play which is child-led and spontaneous.  

 

Just Add Water

The gorgeous summer weather has been a great time to involve h2o in our outside play.  The paddling pool came out the shed and got cleaned up.  Part of it had sprung a leak so it didn't fully inflate but Ethan was just as happy with it as last year and his play has become much more precise with detailed storytelling going on involving boats, shells, cars and london buses.  Quite often a toy will end up in there that is not really made for water but Ethan just wants to involve all his toys in whatever game he is playing!  Ethan remembers back to the sinking/floating experiments we all did at Belsize Bears whenever he is in water now and loves to predict what will happen with new objects and test it out.  I do hope he gains a love of science which I found very uninspiring at school as it is actually interesting when presented in the right way!

 
When Marley came to play I filled the tuff spot with water and the plastic food and tea set for them to play with.  This soon became a big muddy puddle! They splashed around and got the watering can and measuring jug to pour muddy water on each other.  They also both lay down in it.  It was one of those occasions I am glad I am not friends with people who are overly precious about their children getting mucky as both boys were covered in water and mud by the end of the picnic.  My theory is clothes and children can always be washed so let them go wild! Children can sense our inhibition in situations and it can stifle their creativity.  The beauty of childhood is living in the moment so if we can allow them to just be, then we should.

At Belsize Bears we filled the tuff spot with water again but this time it was set up outside on a concrete path with no mud around so it was an entirely different experience.  The invitation to play we set up was drinking straws, beakers and an early learning centre pour and play run.  I also filled an old washing up bottle with coloured water.  The beauty of the tuff spot (or builders tray which can be purchased at builders merchants or ebay) is that children of all ages can access the play.  This meant the whole group was engaged in an activity at once and it was lovely to see.  They did pouring, squirting, splashing, paddling, imaginative play and were able to practice social skills negotiating a play space involving lots of other children.

Down on the Farm

Ethan used to love playing on the model farm I picked up for £3 from a summer fete last year (mainly putting on the vehicles on it, sometimes adding pebbles too) but lately he hasn't been interested at all.  So while he was at nursery today I thought I would jazz it up a bit with some compost and hay (shhh, don't tell the guinea pigs!). I also got all the farm animals out, a tractor and some small model cats.

I had placed the pig in a box containing compost as it's pen.  Ethan said "How can the pig get out of there? I know, he can jump out!" and then he spotted Jess the cat and told me he needed Postman Pat and his van too.  It was lovely to see him engaging in play with this again after many months of being disinterested in it.  Adding natural materials was a great way to make this play a more sensory experience and Ethan enjoyed smelling and touching it.

Coloured Salt

Given the success of yesterday's invitation to play, I have decided to try and do one each day for Ethan. I have been meaning to do something with coloured salt ever since I saw it on the Imagination Tree website.  I poured some table salt into a tub, added quite a few drops of blue food colouring and then stirred it until it became a powdery blue.  I liked how sparkly the salt made it look and Ethan commented on that when he came down and found it presented in a blue (unused!) cat litter tray with a tool in.

Ethan thought it was sugar at first and ran straight over to investigate further.  At first he used the tool to drag through the salt.  Then he asked if he could make a hand print. Then I showed him how I could write an e in it for Ethan using my finger and he copied.

After this Ethan ran to get the cookie cutters to make shapes in the salt.  He made a hexagon and diamond and asked me what the shape names were.  He also made a crocodile and pig.

Then Ethan added the cars.

He had so much fun with the existing resources by utilising them in a new way with the salt.

Time for Tea

My sister Jo gave us the tea set her girls have now outgrown so whilst Ethan was in bed last night I set up an invitation to play .  I used a muslin as a makeshift tablecloth on his small table and then set up the tea set.  I added coloured lolly sticks and pom poms from the craft supplies.  When I'd finished it looked so tempting I wanted to have a play myself!

When Ethan woke up and saw the table he was very excited. He ran straight over and began placing one pom pom in each teacup.  Then he took them out and filled the teapot with pom poms.  He used the lolly sticks to get the pom poms out from the bottom of the teapot when they got stuck.  Then he made me a cup of tea and some breakfast (filling a saucer with pom poms and giving me a lolly stick "spoon". Then Ethan made lots of dinners for me and gave me a lolly stick knife, spoon and fork to eat them with before placing the crockery and cutlery in the "washing up" on the sofa.  Ethan continued this game for two hours.  It was wonderful to see his imagination sparked and be included in his imaginative play.  

Valentines Day Ideas

Inspired by these fab felt counting valentines at Itty Bitty Love I decided to make some out of corrugated card I picked up from my favourite discount store Wilkos! Ethan Bear finds numbers a bit tricky so I hope using some physical objects to aid counting will help him understand the meaning and relevance of numbers more.  Sticking the gems and foam shapes on and the tactile feel of the card all contribute to this being a very sensory experience of learning numbers.  I will update further how all the children get on with this new resource when introduced to it.

This links in with the EYFS in the following ways:

Mathematics - Numbers: Knows that numbers identify how many objects are in a set.
Shows curiosity about numbers by offering comments or asking questions.

I also made some strawberry jelly play dough, a very slight variation on the valentines play dough at The Imagination Tree.  It was really simple to make and turned out much nicer than the shop bought stuff.  Ethan loved using the rolling pin and heart cutters to play with the dough.  He made a giant cake by filling all the cutters with dough and stacking them on top of each other and moulded the dough round the rolling pin to make a turtle with rolling pin head.  He chattered away whilst playing getting the big cutters to talk to the little ones and putting on different voices.  Ethan got so much from this resource playing with it for hours before going to play with his duplo and then returning asking for it to be brought out again.  

Today I made some chocolate play dough  (another great recipe from Imagination Tree) to add to our collection.  I gave it to Ethan with some birthday candles and he had a ball.  He recently turned three so loved me singing happy birthday and then pretended to blow the candles out.  He made a spider cake (pictured below), horse cake, chocolate chicken, eggs and sausages.  These play dough experiments have really taken Ethan's imaginative play into a whole new dimension and the versatility of the dough means it can become anything at any time.  Big success :)

All the children have loved the play dough today.  They have offered me a cake and a cup of tea and set to work rolling it out and poking candles in before taking the candles out and putting them back in the holes.

This activity links to the EYFS in the following ways:

Expressive Arts & Design - Being Imaginative - Engages in imaginative role-play based on own first-hand experiences, Notices what adults do, imitating what is observed and then doing it spontaneously when the adult is not there, Uses available resources to create props to support role-play, Plays alongside other children who are engaged in the same theme.

Expressive Arts & Design - Exploring & Using Media & Materials:  Explores and experiments with a range of media through sensory exploration, and using whole body.

Communication & Language - Listening & Attention: Maintains attention, concentrates and sits quietly during appropriate activity.   

Communication & Language - Speaking:  Learns new words very rapidly and is able to use them in communicating, Introduces a storyline or narrative into their play.

Today we made Valentine's Jam Heart Tarts.  I was feeling lazy so bought some ready rolled pastry for the children to make them with but I'm sure they would be even nicer if you made that from scratch too and the children would love mixing the dough.  The children loved cutting the heart shapes out and then putting them in the baking tin.  They counted how many hearts there were when the tins were full and then spooned the jam out and cut out the hearts for the top.  We had some pastry left over so the children played with it (just as I remember playing with left over pastry dough as a child and loving it).

  


What are you up to for Valentines day?


     
 

Ways To Play

There are many different ways we can enable children to play which I have picked up over the past few years.  Here are a few of my favourite:

Messy Play

This is a fantastic way for children to explore and experiment using all their senses that can be started from a very young age.  Most of the time the stuff we do messy play with is edible so it doesn't matter if children eat a bit as can be very tempting for them especially when they are under a year old or we are playing with cereal which always seems to get munched!  We have used pasta, custard, tinned tomatoes, jelly, porridge oats, cereal, semolina, rice, noodles, cereal, couscous, water, ice, snow  & shaving foam.  The sky really is the limit in this area.

I use the cat litter trays they sell cheaply in discount stores or supermarkets or the Ikea Trofast trays to put the material in and sometimes add implements to handle the substance which can help some children who don't immediately want to feel different textures on their hands.  Vehicles, animals and people can also be added to encourage imaginative play and objects to fill and empty to develop maths skills.

 This kind of play aids physical development (practicing fine motor skills and hand to eye coordination).  Children can also explore a variety of textures, smells, listen to different noises, observe what happens when they drop or squeeze or roll different things and taste of course!  Children learn turn taking, widen their language by talking about what they are doing and thinking, build their confidence, develop concentration and messy play provides an outlet for emotions.  It is also fantastic fun!

Children should be allowed to explore at their own pace with adult intervention kept to a minimum.  Some children may feel inhibited if they feel Mummy or Daddy don't want them to get dirty or some may be more sensitive to sensory experiences and take longer to enjoy messy play or enjoy it more when they can handle thing with forks or spoons.  As adults to ensure this experience is as positive as possible we should remember that any mess can be tidied up, clothes can be washed and so can children.  Live in the moment and be child like :)

Imaginative Play

This is when children enact scenarios they witness others in their environment doing or pretend to be something that interests them (in the above picture Ethan was being a butterfly apparently).  This can start as holding a toy up and pretending it is a mobile phone and they are talking to someone on it, making dinner, drinking a cup of tea, driving a car, sweeping the floor etc.  We can encourage this type of play with props or toys such as cardboard boxes, clothes, hats, scarves, shoes and bags picked up from Charity shops or that we no longer use (or specific child dress up clothes), kitchen utensils, play food, bowls and children will also pick things up and use them as something we as adults would never imagine. Also we can create spaces which encourage play like a sheet over some chairs that may become a tent.  Life events may make children more aware of something such as present giving at Christmas which can start off new games such as wrapping and unwrapping presents (putting all their toys in a bag and then giving it to you to unwrap and thank them for).

Children also do this sort of play on a smaller scale with small world play.  We have a farm scene and buildings made from wood that we picked up at the school fete for £3 and painted in simple colours.  Sometimes all the vehicles take over the farm, sometimes there are lots of animals and people and Bob the Builder's ladder comes out, sometimes pipe cleaners are thrown all over the farm as snow or shells make it a beach and the buildings are all filled up with them.

Imaginative play can benefit children as it helps them make sense of things, they can develop social skills (sharing and working through problems) and language skills (story telling, listening, talking and body language), they can use it to unwind and enjoy quiet time and develop their imagination.  Also children can explore their emotions and recount experiences.  

Heuristic Play

This is where we give children access to objects from the real world made from different materials in order for them explore using all their senses.  Plastic and electronic toys (that feel, look and taste very similar and may only have one function) can fail to stimulate children and may frustrate or bore them easily.  An example of this can be found in the baby that tosses their birthday presents aside and plays with the boxes and wrapping paper!  For babies we can make treasure baskets.

Items you could have in a treasure basket include:

egg boxes, toilet roll tubes, wrapping paper,

wooden kitchen utensils, curtain rings, bracelets,

natural objects such as an orange, coconut shells, shells, pine cones, loofah, sheepskin, pebbles,

ribbon, silk scarves, lace, cotton handkerchief,

metal objects such as spoons, whisks, cookie cutters, tea strainers, egg cups,   

cosmetic brushes, body brushes, nail brushes, scrubbing brushes and CDs.

Treasure baskets should be kept where a baby can reach them and empty and fill as they wish.  Objects should be added to the basket and taken out regularly to maintain interest.  Baby should be free to explore each object as they wish and decided what they want to play with whilst adult supervises but does not interfere.  Objects no smaller than a five pence piece should be placed in treasure baskets as there is a choking hazard.  Always supervise babies with treasure baskets and check items for damage, throwing them out if necessary.

Children under one learn about the world though sensory motor development where they pick objects up and explore the texture, taste and other physical characteristics through placing them in their mouth.  A treasure basket provides an interesting and rich experience for the baby which helps their brain grow by making connections and stimulating them.

For children over a year heuristic play is done in a slightly different way.  Toddlers like to know what an objects is and if it has a function.  They will experiment with objects by rubbing them, bashing them on things, squeezing, throwing and shaking them.  They may ask "what is this?" and "what does that do?" and use them in imaginative role play games.  Toddlers will gain a lot from playing with the same kinds of items in treasure baskets but because they are not so drawn to mouth everything objects can be added such as:

corks, pipe cleaners, cotton wool, buttons, lids, cardboard tubes of different length, hair rollers, cotton reels, pebbles, feathers, tins and other types of containers.

For toddlers heuristic play we can place groups of resources in separate containers such as plastic food storage containers (a good excuse to buy a takeaway!), baskets or other containers.  These can be labelled with pictures of what they contain inside so children can easily find what they are looking for and assist and learn sorting and categorization at tidy up time.  They may be categorized by what they are, shape or similarities (such as rolling items).   Children should be free to play with the resources however they like in the knowledge that at tidy up time resources will be returned to where they came from.   

Again this activity is completely child led and adult interference is kept to a minimum.  There is no right or wrong way for a child to play with the resources unless you feel they are doing something dangerous with an item.  Children can develop their physical skills, imagination, language skills, understanding of the world, social skills, maths skills and confidence with this type of play.