Learning Dough

On the first day of school students in my class knead playdough, nick-named "Learning Dough" in a Ziploc bag to reveal a colorful surprise. I have made playdough with my first grade students for years. Playdough is highly engaging with students and in the early weeks of school when teaching classroom rules and procedures it is great for transition times. It keeps early finishers busy, exercises small motor muscles and allows students to create. There is no limit to the children's imaginations while working with playdough. I'm always amazed at what they will form from their dough.

 

 

 

 

One of my students made ten bowling pins and carefully placed them in a triangle array. Then rolled the rest of his playdough into a bowling ball. He made an alley out of his pencils and crayons. His classmates watched in awe as he bowled knocking down playdough pins. The students exclaimed, "We want to do that!"

 

 

My students showed such high interest in playdough bowling I thought there must be a way to use this interest to a teaching avantage. In math the students learn what number combinations make ten. "That's it!" I thought, "I can use bowling to teach what number combinations make ten." So the next day, everyone made bowling pins and balls during math. The students recorded how many pins they knocked down and how many were left standing on a worksheet I found on Pinterest search. Hey, why reinvent the wheel, right?