At play with playdough people in preschool

I recently acquired these little people shaped craft sticks. The craft stick people were unfinished so I painted a few of them blue and a few of them red…

I am always looking to add new dimensions of play to the materials we already have in the classroom. So I added the people shaped craft sticks to the playdough table today…

The children started off by simply exploring the two different kinds of materials by sticking the playdough people into large clumps of playdough…

After the children explored the “mechanics” of the two materials together for awhile, I asked if I could play too. I rolled a smaller piece of playdough into a little ball and stuck my playdough person into the ball… Then I “walked” my playdough person across the table to talk to the other playdough people…

As I said “hello” to the other playdough people, the children naturally used their playdough people to say “hello” back to me. After a few minutes, I left my playdough person on the table and walked away to observe again from a little bit of a distance…

The play now began to broaden. I observed the children…

  • using their hands to break apart and roll smaller clumps of playdough which worked those fine motor skills
  • participating in pretend play as they had their playdough people talk to each other
  • interacting with each other as their playdough people visited their friends
  • discovering and exploring a new way to play with playdough

It didn’t take long before the table was full of children joining in…

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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