Elementary children develop fine motor skills using homemade playdough, and all K-12 students enjoy creative hands-on projects using salt dough and paper mache.
Homemade Dough Recipes for Tactile Development:
Preschooland elementary school students develop fine motor dexterity necessary for handwriting development when they squeeze, pat, cut, and roll homemade dough and clay! Have plenty of cookie cutters, plastic scissors, plastic knives, wooden clay tools and rolling pins available to encourage creative play.
Basic Playdough Recipe: Mix together 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup of flour, and 1 tablespoon of cream of tartar in a medium sauce pan. Next add one tablespoon of vegetable oil, one cup of water, and a few drops of food coloring. Stir over gentle heat until the dough has a workable consistency. Allow to cool. Be sure to store the dough in airtight containers when not in use.
Peanut Butter Dough Recipe: **Caution: Be sure that none of your students have peanut allergies before using this recipe! Mix equal amounts of peanut butter and honey in a medium bowl. Add an equal amount of powdered milk to the peanut butter-honey concoction. For example, if you combine 1/2 cup of peanut butter with 1/2 cup of honey, then you would add 1 full cup of powdered milk. Make sure that students play on a clean surface because they will almost certainly want to taste their dough!
No-Cook Air-Dry Dough: Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup cornstarch, and 1/2 cup salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Then stir in 1/3 cup of warm water until the dough has a dough-y consistency. Knead, adding additional water to drier dough or small amounts of flour to stickier dough. This is a great recipe for making beads.
Salt Dough and Paper Mache Glue Recipes for Class Projects:
Add tactile experiences to your theme units! Use salt dough for sculpting. Utilize paper mache glue with strips of newspaper or colored tissue paper to create fabulous 3-D projects for any number of subjects. The uses for these recipes are endless.
Air-Dry Salt Dough:Blend 4 cups of flour with one cup of salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix in 1 1/2 cups of hot tap water and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Use the dough immediately. Projects will need several days to dry. Salt dough clay can be painted, and it is ideal for topographical maps made on a sturdy cardboard base.
Paper Mache Glue: Need to create a Grecian Urn or Pinata for Social Studies? A Harry Potter "Sorting Hat" to go along with a Harry Potter literary unit? or character puppet for Language Arts? How about a model of an insect for biology or a gardening unit? Paper Mache is a wonderful medium for such projects. Here is a tried-and-true paste recipe for nearly any project: Blend 1/2 cup of flour with 2 cups of cold water. Set aside. Boil 2 cups of water. Add the original mixture to the water and reheat until boiling. Remove from h eat and blend in 3 tablespoons of sugar. Allow the paste to cool to lukewarm before using. For a stiffer product, try adding measured amounts of craft or wallpaper glue.
These recipes can be used for many projects and for many age groups!
The copyright of the article Playdough and Paper Mache Recipes in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Susan Hyde. Permission to republish Playdough and Paper Mache Recipes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
