My Game in Play Dough

Sitting calmly, children use play dough to model something from their play: a tower, a rolled-up fabric, a mat with themselves on it, or the character they became. Representing in 3D helps them calm down and remember the experience.

How to play

1. We sit in a circle with our board and a ball of play dough and knead it slowly to warm it up (1 min).
2. The teacher asks, “What are you taking home from the room today?” and everyone thinks about what to make (1 min).
3. We model: snakes for fabrics, balls and cubes for blocks, a little figure of ourselves (3 min).
4. We put all the figures in the middle of the circle and each child says what they made (2 min).
5. We leave the figures on the shelf to dry and show families, then go wash our hands (1 min).

Rules

• Play dough stays on the board and in our hands, never in our mouths.
• Everyone models their own piece without touching other people's.
• When we finish, the figure stays on the board.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: use softer dough and secure the board to the table so it doesn't slide.
• Autism: if the child doesn't like touching dough, offer cutters or a rolling pin.
• Visual impairment: modeling is ideal; describe classmates' figures and let the child touch them.

Learning goals

• Represent the experience in three dimensions.
• Build fine motor skills through kneading and modeling.
• Put into words what the play meant to them.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Play dough: 25
• Modeling boards: 25

Teacher tip

Watch 3-year-olds so they don't put dough in their mouths, and use homemade flour-and-salt dough if in doubt. Alternate with drawing across sessions; some children express much more through modeling.

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