Benefits of play dough in learning
Plasticine is a material that brings great benefits to children’s learning processes. According to experts, being able to shape and create things that come out of their mind greatly improves the training processes and helps them approach the material freely. The ideal is to use homemade plasticine , especially if it is children under 3 years old, although commercial formulas are usually a good alternative if you do not know very well how to make it, or if you do not have the necessary time.
Concentration and relaxation
Modeling play dough requires little ones to use many of their abilities, such as concentration or nerve control. Therefore, it is beginning to be used with great success in order to reduce stress and obtain better results in processes such as literacy, which require a tolerance to frustration and a very specific concentration. The plasticine helps to achieve this in a pleasant and fun way, with which learning becomes another part of the games and not a tedious task.
Manual capacity and mutual collaboration
When they handle the clay, children develop their manual skills, which in the future helps them to carry out manual tasks that require more precision. In addition, it helps them improve their creativity with a material that is not toxic, especially when we make a homemade clay recipe with natural ingredients, which even in cases of accidental ingestion do not produce any serious problem.
It is also a good way to help children socialize and help each other. Each of the children observes what the others are doing, asks how they do it and explains it to the group, thus contributing to collaboration and the development of a sense of community and collectivity.
How to make homemade modeling clay
Making homemade clay is pretty straightforward. In addition, a softer than industrial paste is obtained but at the same time more compact, which makes it more difficult for young children to break pieces and put them in their mouths. Another advantage is that it is cheaper than commercial modeling clay.
In addition, homemade modeling clay is an activity that we can do with the children themselves, which is sure they will love it. These are the ingredients for the homemade plasticine recipe :
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of flour (we can look for gluten-free flour)
- 50 g fine salt
- 1 tablespoon mild olive oil
- Food coloring
The first thing to do is prepare a dough. To do this we heat the water without it boiling and throw all the ingredients off the heat except the colorings. We return to the fire, this time low, and stir until we obtain a homogeneous mixture that comes off the walls of the pan. We remove from the heat and let it cool down.
Before kneading it, the mixture has to be warm. When when we touch it we notice that it has more or less the temperature of our body or a little more, we knead for a couple of minutes in an energetic way. Then mix with the coloring and knead again until everything has a uniform tone. And ready!
