PLAYDOUGH TURKEYS - BIG MESS, BIGGER MESSAGE?

Despite my last minute-ness, I was pleasantly surprised with how our Thanksgiving Turkey Play-dough Activity turned out this past week

Here are my thoughts:

The goal of the art activity was to work with the children in creating a mixed media Turkey sculpture using white playdough along with other art materials like feathers and googley eyes. I’d been excited about this activity, despite what you may hear or fear about playdough & its mess-levels, I LOVE PLAYDOUGH DAYS!!!!!

I see play-dough as a forbidden fruit of sorts for kids. I think parents, like providers, are reluctant to purchase/use play-dough due to its stubbornness & tendency to get trapped in carpets.But if you are able, find an area in your setting with hard floors, set up a table, sat a group down with an assortment of molding tools and remind & reinforce to them that play-dough is exclusively for that area. They are typically so excited about getting to explore with it, they will happily agree to this compromise.

But anyway, back to the turkeys!

I purchased an assortment of Googley Eye Sizes, Feathers (naturally colored & high contrast brights), and Fall Colored Fuzzy Sticks from my local Dollar General. I think I spent maybe $11-$14 (i overbought, we had leftover feathers AND fuzzy sticks). We have the tubs of lakeshore play-dough at this center.

I laid out a few molding materials like rollers & play-dough scissors on 2 tables, before placing an assortment of feathers, eyes, and fuzzy sticks on each table for a total of 12 participants. I also had some math & block centers in use for learners who bored quickly or did not opt to sculpt with playdough.

I explained what our goal was with sculpting today as I passed out the play dough. This activity turned out to be one of those extraordinary times where, for just a little while, the classroom is quiet with contentment & concentration. I alternated sitting at each table with my own play-dough, demonstrating how I’d create a Turkey, and interacting with and applauding the children’s creations, while our other class teacher oversaw children doing alternate activities or on restroom breaks. The learners were eager to show off their turkeys, and me creating with them increased their confidence and extended their engagement time with this activity.

The feathers were a hit and really gave our turkeys beautiful personality. They did shed a lot, though. I would say the mess level of this activity was a 4/5. The cleanup process required lots of sweeping of feather and small play-dough pieces, and light vacuuming. The mess level would be a 5/5 if you included any color or glitter.

Although there was some cleanup afterward, I think the long engagement time and high satisfactory level with the learners make the clean-up worth it.

This single activity touched on so many areas of development such as fine motor skills, critical thinking, problem solving skills, communication skills, imagination/dramatic play, sensory exploration, artistic expression/creativity, and even math/science! I even enjoyed doing this activity.

Turkey Playdough was included in the Thanksgiving Week Lesson Plan for a childcare center. I will link it here: https://www.5starlearningclub.com/product-page/thanksgiving

Get it this week and try it with your childcare center learners before Thanksgiving! You could even Turn this into a fall activity by using craft leaves instead of feathers and making fall trees!

I also offer this lesson plan for a childcare HOME setting. I will link that version here: https://www.5starlearningclub.com/product-page/thanksgiving-1

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving, Providers