Garden Playdough Work

I haven't had play dough out for a while although I've had this activity in my mind for a while.  I finally mixed up a batch of chocolate playdough yesterday and put this out in the classroom this morning.  As I predicted, the children really enjoyed this work and it reinforces what we've been learning in our plants unit.

I usually set the playdough up on a table instead of having it set up for children to carry from the shelf.  I have been adding a bottle of hand sanitizer for them to use before handling the dough.  In the photo below from the top and going clockwise are:  a container with the "dirt" dough (I only put about half of the batch of homemade playdough in the container), a box with a rolling pin, flower pots, and a spoon for "digging" the dirt out of the pots, a bucket with carrots to plant, a basket with flowers to plant, and the bottle of hand sanitizer.

The flowers are flower picks which I bought in the floral/wedding section of Michael's.  I know they have these at Hobby Lobby too.  They are perfect for this work because they are very lightweight, but the wire stems are sturdy enough for them to stay upright in the dough without falling over.

I found the teeny terra cotta flower pots in the floral section of Michael's.  HobLob has similar ones.  Today we found that the dough really sticks to the inside so I added a spoon to help scoop out the dough.

I've had these wooden carrots forever and can't tell you a source.  They were originally on a jute rope and I think were part of an Easter swag decoration.  I cut them off the rope for this activity.  You can see the little bumps of rope on the sides.

Here is a flower garden that was planted in our classroom this morning.

   
 

Comments

[Terra]

I love it! "Dirt" dough...now why didn't I think of that???

[Laura]

Thanks so much for writing. Im glad you enjoy the blog. I usually take quite a long break in the summer to spend timewith my two little boys. Ill be back posting soon. So dont go away!!
Take care,
Laura

To: directress@live.com

[Andrea Gibson]

I love all your ideas!
Where have you been?
I miss seeing your great ideas and adapting them to my classroom. Thanks for everything. I hope you are back on soon.

[Christie - Childhood 101]

What a great idea. Love it :)

[Laura]

No problems at all, Marie. You are welcome to write aboutanything on my blog as long as you link back. Thanks so much for writing!
Laura

To: directress@live.com

[Marie]

Hi Laura,
I really love this idea its so simple and yet so effective I will hopefully try it soon.
I hope that you don not mind but I have put a link to here from my site (its brand new) and i just wanted to say that you were my inspiration! Any problems then I shall remove it.
Take care and keep up the great work
Marie x

[Laura]

Im glad you like the recipe. Thanks so much for writing! Take care,
Laura

To: directress@live.com

[Mari-Ann]

What a fun activity! I'll be linking back to your playdough recipe on my sidebar. It's THE BEST recipe I've found and I use it everytime I create my monthly playdough. :)

[Laura]

Glad you liked the idea! Thanks for writing!

To: directress@live.com

[the sleepy time gal]

cute ideas!

[Laura]

Thanks, Jennifer. Good to hear from you!

To: directress@live.com

[Jennifer]

I love this! Inspiring as always.
PEACE
Jennifer

[Laura]

Mary Ann,
Thanks for writing. I just clicked over to your site. Your books look amazing. I may have to order some!
Take care,
Laura

To: directress@live.com

[MaryAnn F. Kohl]

Your playdough work looks so satisfying and relaxing. Thank you for sharing.

[Stephanie]

That's beautiful! MIa will love doing that, if I get the wire-stemmed flowers for her.

[Deborah]

Great idea to use the chocolate play dough!