The Playdough Paradigm

I'm so amazed at all the tech-savvy toddlers and pre-school children these days! Children today are so well-educated and knowledgeable about so many things that even my 20-something kids never even heard of when they were that age! Back in the "dark ages" when I was born, black and white television was still a novelty. Back then, though, not much emphasis was placed on education of toddlers and pre-school aged children. In fact, my parents, like many other young parents in the fifties, thought education began when a child started school.

Today, children are expected to read by the time they start kindergarten. Many classrooms have multiple computers and my kids, now college-age, have done a majority of their research for term papers on-line since middle school. Education in this new millennium has taken on a new meaning. The way we educate children has changed, and we start that education much earlier.

However, education does not have to be high-tech to be effective. Education doesn't have to take place in a nursery school or day care center either. I believe education should be a natural and enjoyable part of life. Creativity and imagination are as important as factual knowledge. Teaching children to "think outside the box" is a far better than expecting them to learn by rote or memorization.

Playdough is one of the best education tools I've come across. Playdough can be used to encourage small muscle development and coordination, hand-eye coordination and math and science concepts.

Small muscle development/coordination

Break of a small handful of playdough from the large "blob." Demonstrate rolling the playdough between the palms of your hands. As the playdough becomes rounded and lengthens, a snake emerges. Another great activity for small muscle development and coordination is to have your child roll small pieces of playdough into balls to make a snowman.

In fact, playdough balls can be rolled into various sizes and then children can begin learning "bigger" and "smaller" as a bonus.

Another great playdough activity to encourage small muscle development and coordination is to stack all the (empty!) playdough containers. Put the tops on the playdough containers. Have the children stack the containers to make a tower.

Math Skills

Math education can take place without children even realizing it. When playdough time is over, have your child return they playdough to correct container. Ask children to select the playdough container with the same color top that matches the playdough.

Another great technique for introducing math education is sorting objects. Spread out all the playdough accessories and have children sort the accessories by color. All the yellow tools, shapes, and other cut-outs of the same color should be grouped together.

Sorting can also be taught by dividing up all the playdough accessories by category such as animals, shapes, etc. Finally, teach your child to match up all the playdough accessories with the playdough that is the same color as the accessories.

Science

Even an empty playdough container can be used as an educational tool! Demonstrate for your children how to hold an empty playdough container up to your face, over your nose and mouth and talk into it. Be prepared for giggles when they hear how funny voices sound when projected into the empty container.

Another great science education activity is to stand a playdough container top on its edge. Give it a good spin, and see how long it will go. You and your child can have a contest to see whose spins the longest or who can get the most playdough container tops spinning at one time.

An additional science project involves dropping the playdough container lid onto a table top, floor or other uncarpeted surface, from a height of about two feet. Watch and listen as the playdough top vibrates and twirls.

Hand-eye coordination

Hand-eye coordination can even be encouraged as you and your child clean up the playdough. Place the playdough box or other container on the floor. Have your child drop the playdough containers and accessories into the container while sitting in a chair (wooden clothespin in the bottle style). See how many of the playdough containers and playdough accessories make it into the box. Count how many go in each time, and keep track of improved aim on a chart to track progress.

Yes, even playdough can be educational. A clever parent is always on the lookout for a teaching moment. It is essential that children learn from their everyday environment bow they are connected to the larger world "out there." While you're giving your children all this education, though, don't forget that whether you're five of fifty-five, playdough is just plain fun. And that's a good thing to know and enjoy too!