Ditch the Worksheets and Have Some Hands- On Fun!
3:00 AM
Research has proven
time and again that hands- on learning leads to more critical thinking, better problem
solving, increased information retention, and more authentic understanding. We’ve
known this for years and yet some teachers still prefer outdated rote learning
techniques, drilling students with piles of worksheets each day.
There isn’t necessarily
anything wrong with this approach,
but there are so many other ways to help children learn! One thing that isn’t
mentioned as much in all the research about hands- on learning…it’s FUN! Kids love it,
it’s motivating, and it makes students want
to learn more. Plus, it's a great approach for students with unique sensory needs. So let’s ditch the worksheets and gets kids actively engaged in more
multi-sensory learning!
I’m going to show you
one way to practice letters, numbers, and sight words with a fun totally “hands-on”
material: Play dough! Yup, your students are going to love it and they’ll want
to practice all day. Play dough is always a hit with kids and is a wonderful
kinesthetic activity to use with young learners. Today I’m sharing my favorite
play dough recipe and a few activities I’ve used it with.
I’ve tried out tons
of recipes for homemade recipes over the years and this one is by far my
favorite. Although it does require cooking on a stovetop, it’s super easy
(no really, it is). It lasts for a very long time and only takes about 5
minutes to make. It's a great sensory and fine motor activity...but most
importantly, kids love it!
PLAY DOUGH RECIPE:
Ingredients:
1 Cup Flour
2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Cup Water
Food Coloring
Directions:
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat stirring for several minutes or until the dough begins to clump. Remove from stove and let it cool down. Once cool, add the dough to a Ziploc bag with food coloring and knead through to distribute the color.
I like to make several batches at once. I put each batch in a separate Ziploc
bag with a few drops of food coloring. The kids love squeezing and squishing
the color throughout the dough in the bag (all the fun without the mess or
stained hands).
If you’re feeling
adventurous, try adding vanilla extract, cinnamon, Kool-Aid, Jell-O mix, or a
drop of essential oil to your dough to add some scent to your play dough. This is a sensory activity, after all. Fair warning though: If it smells
yummy, they might want to know out if it TASTES yummy too (and from what I’ve
been told, it doesn’t).
This play dough stays fresh for an amazingly long time stored in a Ziploc bag or sealed storage container. I’ve never thrown out batch because it dried out or went bad, but I always make a new one when it starts looking gross (after being dropped on the floor a few times, ew. Trust me, it will get gross). I like to give each student their own bag of play dough to avoid sharing germ. My teaching assistants called me a germaphobe, but hey, I think that’s just good practice, especially during cold season.
Last week, I made
this play dough with my own boys at home and let them try out some of the resources
from my TpT store, Exceptional Thinkers. My
3-year-old hates getting his hands dirty so squishing the food coloring in the
bag was perfect for him. My 6-year-old would bathe in slime if I let him, so no
sensory aversions there.
Once the play dough was ready, we practiced rolling
out long “snakes.” Then we made different shapes with our dough snakes: S’s,
circles, X’s, etc.
Once the boys got the
hang of manipulating the dough into shapes, I introduced the Play Dough Mats to
them (available HERE). Instead of laminating
tons of Play Dough mats, I created a binder for each child and slipped the mats
into sheet protectors. The 3-year-old practiced making letters and numbers,
while the 6-year-old worked on sight words. They loved it! They practiced their
letters, numbers and sight words for over an hour! The 3-year-old even tried
the Sight Word Mats while the 6-year-old helped him to read the words.
Now
isn’t that better than worksheets?
I have several different PlayDough Mat sets available at my Exceptional Thinkers store.
All of the sets can be purchased separately or as a Bundle at a discount price HERE.
My goal with this
post was to give readers one technique that would hopefully inspire them to try
out a more multi-sensory approach in the classroom. I know it can seem daunting
at first, but once you set your routine with your students, those hands- on
activities start to go on autopilot. There is life after worksheets and your
students will love it!
Visit my blog at https://teachingexceptionalthinkers.com/ for more fun teaching ideas!
by Christy from Exceptional Thinkers
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