Big Body Playdough!

Have you ever thought of play dough as a large motor activity? While I was reading the Big Body Playdough section in Learning Together with Young Children all I could think of was how much the children enjoyed our exploration with clay(other wise known as our friend "Mr Clay"), in the Lunch Bunch program back in the fall. I felt sort of silly that I never thought of putting playdough on the floor to use it as a large motor activity. Children of course have a natural desire to move BIG!

Last week I created a playdough invitation for the children by setting out five large balls of dough on the floor. The children were using a lot of force as they worked with the dough. They used their whole bodies to press into it. The pushed and squeezed and pounded with all their might. They used their hands, fingers, fists, chests, and elbows to flattened and shape the dough. As I offered this invitation over the coming days, the children added more body movements in their play. After observing the children week working with the play dough in these ways, Melissa and I decided to make more room for this big body playdough work on a daily bases.

Speaking of BIG BODY WORK! On Friday Teddy Fox and I were sitting in the library and he said,"Lauri can we play with "Mr. Clay?" My first thought was what a great idea but, let's do it next week, as we have challah dough out at one table, graggers at the art center and lots of building going in the block center. Then Teddy said "We have not played with "Mr. Clay" in a long time." I then said, " Let's go see if we can find him!"

We found him and boy did the children have FUN! The children continued with their big body work and dove right in using their entire bodies and strength. Being on the floor allowed them to spread out and use their entire bodies. The clay was really hard to manipulate at first, but the more the children used their hands, knuckles, fingers, feet and toes the clay was easier to work with. They also had the opportunity to use design tools to press into the clay to help soften it, create lines and designs.

Next week the children will have more opportunities for Big Body Playdough and Clay play!