Artful Teachers: Play Doug Ideas

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What is The Purpose of Art for Young Children?

Art is important to a child's developmental process. By experimenting with art, young children can express their ideas and feelings, develop motor coordination skills and learn about different types of materials and textures.

Interaction With Art Materials
With early learners, it is important to concentrate on the process instead of the product. Children can learn about colors, feelings and textures by experimenting with art materials.

Develop Motor Coordination Skills
By interacting with art materials and creating their own works of art, children can develop hand-to-eye coordination and manual dexterity.

Express Emotion
Art helps early learners to express their needs, wants and feelings.

Developing Comprehension Skills
By looking at and creating works of art, children develop the idea of sequencing, which builds their comprehension skills.

Solving Problems
Children who are exposed to art-making activities develop higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills than children who do not have this exposure.

Creative Play:

Play Dough Bakery

Add bowls, spoons, plastic knives, cookie cutters, muffin tins, mini bread loaf pans, small cookie sheets, spatulas, rolling pins, and pots and pans to the play dough area. I also have a George Foreman play dough grill and a baking rack from a real toaster that were donated to me.

Birthday Cakes

Add a cake stand, mini cake pan, small plastic letters, pipe cleaners, birthday candles or pegs, plastic knife, plates, and small silk flowers for decorations to put on the birthday cakes.

Ice Cream Parlor

Add ice cream bowls, spoons, and ice cream scoops to the center. Fold thick brown paper or posterboard into cone shapes. I have a cute set of ice cream bowls with spoons that came from the Dollar Tree. I see them there every year.

Mr. Play Dough Head

Children use Mr. Potato Head parts with the play dough to make play dough people.

Alien Eyes

Mix wiggle eyes into the play dough for children to find.

Construction

Add wooden craft sticks to the play dough for children to construct houses and other buildings.

Barbie Shoes

Children use the Barbie shoes to make footprints in the play dough. They can also use them as shoes for play dough people.

Tire Tracks

Children flatten out the play dough and roll toy cars and trucks on it to make tire tracks.

Pet Food

Provide brown play dough with pet food bowls and a bone cookie cutter. Children can roll the play dough into little balls for pet food. You could also add toy dogs and cats.

Astronauts

Children make planets or the moon with play dough. Add small plastic astronaut figures and rocks for asteroids that children can crash into the planets.

Bug Box

Place Easter grass in the bug boxes. Children make model bugs and put them in the boxes.

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