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Hunni Bee.....what do you mean you have to buy play dough our of your own pocket??? Why on earth.....what the.......? That's crazy! You're at a center.....I don't get it:confused:
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I don't even allow play do"God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.'"
Acts 13:22Comment
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I hate play-doh, it gets everywhere. We do it once a week and each kid gets a little container of it. They don't like to share their play-doh so color mixing really doesn't happen.Comment
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We make our own play dough as a cooking activity so we make a big bag of it at a time. When it's time to pull it out to play with it we all use the same play dough from the same bag so it's all one color anyway. They each get a small amount and then gradually as they learn the play dough rules (keep it out of your mouth, keep it on your play dough mat, keep your hands on your own play dough etc) they get more of it. It's cheap to make too so what falls on the ground, gets mouthed etc just gets tossed and the rest gets put back in the bag again. We only keep the play dough for 2-3 weeks and then toss it and make a new batch anyway so we rarely have more than one color of it unless it's intentional like if we are learning about mixing colors... then it's ok to mix.
PS: We do play dough outside on a table to contain the mess.
Off Topic ... I LOVE play dough! It's so beneficial for the kids. I love adding scents too depending on what we are learning. Example: A, red & circle. A is for apples and apples are round so we make red play dough and add a little apple extract to the dough. During the fall we make orange colored cinnamon scented play dough etc. LOVE IT!Comment
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I make all my playdough and it usually goes along with the overall theme for the month, therefore they only get one color. Not to be a meanie, but if I spent money on the materials and made the time to make the dough extra special, it stays the way I intended it to be
. For example, I've made "pumpkin" playdough (scented with pumpkin spices and colored orange), "moon" dough (black and blue dough mixed with glitter and stars), "peppermint" dough (red dough with white glitter and peppermint extract), etc.
There are plenty of other things that I allow the kids to mix so I don't thing they are too limited in that respect (sensory bin materials, shaving cream, paints, crayons, markers, foam dough, etc.).Comment
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This is exactly my philosophy. I have had children use the duplo box, the block box, the cars and the small toy animals to create an entire city complete with garage, zoo, office buildings, schools (with the weebles bus), etc.I used to be really anal about order and not mixing things or playing with pieces of one set of pieces while playing with another....but after my own kids were grown and gone, I saw the "damage" that can be done by restricting complete freedom with this kind of stuff....
.......so now art (and free play) are times where I simply look the other way and let the kids mix, share, mingle or combine any color (or pieces) they wish to.
It IS a learning experience for them and my need for order should never supercede their need to learn.
I do not restrict "pieces" or make them put away one box before taking out another. I let them mix to their hearts content.
Playdo is the same way. They don't care what color it is, and they LOVE to mix. I have a playdo mixing machine designed to do just that.Comment
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When my own kids were little, I spent a ton of time (and money) keeping all the pieces of toy sets they have completely organized and clean. I had little containers inside bigger containers and all color coded and easy to find and keep orderly.
Years later after my kids had grown, I was so happy to see their toy sets make it through their childhoods in excellent condition and still very useable.
One day, my DD was home for a holiday from college and she and I started talking about toys and things I since moved to the daycare and things I wanted to save for my future grandkids.
My DD told me that a lot of times, she really wanted to play with certain things but didn't because the "orderly" rules I had for playing, (not mixing, playing appropriately etc) made it so that the toy was no longer appealing or fun to play.
Basically I ****ed all the fun out of certain things.
Now when I watch my DCK's play with things and they have several pieces of one toy set mixed in with another, I notice how deeply they are engrossed in that magical kid like pretend play that is soooo important. They are so lost in imagination and make believe that they will often play with something (and together with peers) for hours with no issues.
I really truly believe that I robbed my own children of that "right" and I stifled their ability to become deeply engrossed in that type of play because I had such strict rules and guidelines about how to play and not mix things up.
My OCD tendencies should never have been more important than my kids' right to experience imagination and creativity at it's deepest levels.
I think that this change (in how I allow kids to play) is the biggest reason I have hours of uninterrupted free play with no fights or disputes between kids.
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My child development instructors always felt I had some kind of intense insight into children and their development. The above reason is really more the drive...
. I LIKE peace and quiet. To me, it is so worth resorting the toys later on into their buckets.
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