Playdough Nature Walk

Preschool Lesson Plans

Sensory Play

Playdough Recipes

Playdough Lesson Plans

Activity:  

• Playdough Nature Walk

Lesson plan developed by:  Aurora Tollestrup, BS Ed

Age Group:

• Kindergarten

Objectives:  

Children will:

• participate in a nature walk and take imprints of plants.
  
• use inventive spelling and drawings to dictate their experiences.

Washington Common Core State Standard:
Writing Standard Grade K
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.3

• 3. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. 

Playdough Nature Walk

Materials: 

• playdough
• pencil
• ​paper

Procedure: 

• Take small groups on a nature walk and give each child a lump of playdough.
  
• Invite children to use their playdough to take imprints of leaves, rocks, bark on trees and other natural materials.
  
• Keep in mind that the playdough will probably be ruined after this activity.
• Upon returning to the classroom begin a discussion about the different things that children did and the sequence of events during the nature walk. 
• Encourage children to use inventive spelling and drawings to dictate the sequence of events surrounding the nature walk.

Assessment: 

• Assess children’s sequencing and inventive spelling in order to plan future lessons regarding this concept.  

Fine Motor Skills

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Stress and Anxiety

Language development begins from birth and continues throughout childhood. One of the most effective methods of language development is in communicating with peers. Children can communicate on similar levels and encourage one another in shared interests and activities. Playdough opens the door to these experiences. When children are gathered around the playdough table they are engaging with one another and developing speaking and listening skills.

“Look at the snake!” one child will exclaim. “Can I use the red playdough?” another will ask. Children will discuss, explain, question, observe and more, all furthering their language development. Discussing colors, shapes and more will give children practice developing vocabulary words and learning language skills through peer interaction. They are conversing and learning about their peers as well as the world around them. Sharing information about their lives is part of interacting with peers. They may make creations from the playdough that mimic their real world. For example several children may create food or objects from a book that was read to them at story time. Children may also create playdough food items after lunch. They are communicating their understanding of their world in these simple and fun ways.