beat RAINY DAY blues with homemade playdough

This post originally appeared on March 1,2011.

Around here we have playdough ready at all times.  I keep it in a plastic bin in my art cabinet.  Today I really wanted to do something different with it though.  So I made two different color batches of Kool Aid PlayDough.  Then I brought out the animals.

what you need:   Kool aid PlayDough ~ Animals

I rushed to prep the table while M and M were occupied.  I made eight ovals and then pressed a different animal into each one.

I mixed the animals up on the table and called the kids over.  I told them to find which animal made each imprint.

We had an even better time than I had expected.  The kids worked hard finding a match and then they wanted me to walk away so they could set the stage for me.  Big M even changed it up a bit and made foot prints.

M and M played with the animals for a while and then requested their usual playdough toys.  Big M worked on a construction site.
And Little M baked her heart out.
This activity ended up lasting 3 hours!  Wow, was I a happy lesson planning Mom!

Questions(to ask your kids):  ”How can you tell which animal is a match?” “Are the legs the same on every animal?”  ”Look at the texture, which animal would make these marks?”

Tips(to maximize learning):  1. Let your little ones help make the playdough.  2. Have them guess what will happen when the water is added to the dry ingredients.  3.  Give your kids a chance to knead while the dough is still warm. . .but make sure you finish up otherwise it will be sticky.

For more creative ideas of how to play with play dough visit PlayDough Bakery and PlayDough Play! 

This post is a part of the Rainy Day lesson plan.

This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are mine. Read the fine print.