Sunshine Play Dough

LESSON 6

Children express their creativity and knowledge of the sun creating sun inspired art using play dough.

  • Flour

  • Cream of tartar

  • Vegetable oil

  • Turmeric or yellow food coloring

  • Salt

  • Medium saucepan

Optional

  • Pattern blocks

  • Short on time, or too busy? Instead of making playdough you can always purchase some from the store. 

Materials

  • Gather materials

Preparations

  • Guide and involve children in the process of gathering materials for making the sunshine playdough.

  • Support children in measuring and mixing the ingredients, providing assistance as needed.

  • Encourage and appreciate children's creativity and artistic expression as they design sun-themed playdough creations.

Objectives for Teachers

  • Children practice basic math skills by measuring and mixing the ingredients for the playdough.

  • Children express creativity and practice fine motor skills to create sun designs with the playdough.

  • Children participate in open-ended play with the playdough, expressing their imagination.

Objectives for Children

Collect and Connect

Practice saying the poem “Golden Sun” together with the actions you came up with. 

Golden Sun

Great, glorious, golden sun

Shine down on me today

You are the light of all this earth

You can your magic ray

You are the life of bird and plant

All must depend on you

Shine down, great sun, the whole day long

Shine from the heaven’s blue

And I will welcome your golden rays

For you mean life to me

And you mean happiness and health

Strength and energy

Shine down, great sun, on flower and field

And never say goodbye

Forever and ever give us your light

From out the wide, blue sky

Activity Flow

  1. Begin by including your child in gathering the items and ingredients around the kitchen to make the sunshine playdough.

  2. Work together to measure out all the ingredients and mix them in the sauce pan. Add turmeric or food coloring until you get your desired color of yellow.

  3. Place the saucepan over medium to low heat and continue stirring until your mixture turns into a ball.

  4. Remove from heat and place it on a plate or cutting board to cool. Once it is cool knead the play dough until it is smooth.

  5. Now it is time to have fun with the playdough! Work together or independently to create sun designs. We decided to use our pattern blocks to add some extra creativity to this activity. If you have any playdough tools, feel free to use them to create different textures and designs too.

  6. While playing with the playdough, take a moment to discuss the sun and all the fascinating things we learned about it during this unit. Enjoy your time together creating and learning!

  7. Once you’ve finish playing, make sure to store it in an airtight container or a resealable bag so that you can enjoy playing with it again later.