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Fall Play Doh Apple Pie – Invitation to Play

September 11, 2013 by Sarah 10 Comments

Play Doh Activities

Yesterday I shared my absolute favourite play doh recipe.  Today, I thought I would share an incredibly simple learning activity we did with the Play Doh. 

I decided to try an “Invitation to Play” with Sammy.  I had done these many times in my Kindergarten classroom and was inspired to try one at home from the great posts I’ve been reading from twodaloo.  It went very well!

In a nut shell, an invitation to play is simply setting up materials in a way that encourages play in an open ended manner.  I love them for many reason, but at home the beauty is that you can use whatever you have on hand and easily relate it to whatever your wee one is currently interested in.

I set up the Play Doh in a way that looked like we would be cooking apple pie.

Play Doh Activities 2

I provided Sam with:

Play Doh Apples,

Play Doh Sugar,

Sticks,

All Spice,

Pie Pan,

Rolling Pin,

Spoons and Forks.

The learning that happened was amazing to watch.  Sam was counting, pretending, imagining, using different voices and becoming various characters.  Better yet, he played in this way for over 30 minutes.  When he tired of making pies, he cooked pizza.  His pizza crust amazingly became a parking lot in the blink of an eye and he added parking spaces around the sides.

Play Doh Activities 3

I am so glad I tried this activity with Sam.  He truly enjoyed it and I felt it was a very meaningful learning activity for him.  It is so lovely how wee ones can learn so perfectly from play.

We will definitely be doing more invitations to play and setting up ‘little worlds’ for Sammy to wrap himself in.  Such a magical time – being 3.

Oh – and Benjamin enjoyed himself too 🙂

Play Doh Activities 4

What is your favourite Play Doh activity?

Filed Under: Art, Create, Easy Crafts, Kindergarteners, Playful Art, Preschoolers, Thanksgiving, Toddler, Toddlers, Toddlers

« Rhyming Games: Rhyme or SLIME
Preschool Games: Math Games at the Mall »

Comments

  1. Chelsey says

    September 14, 2013 at 1:39 am

    I loved this simple invitation and how you shared all the benefits of providing this open-ended play to your little one! Thanks so much for sharing on this week’s Discover & Explore!

    Reply
    • admin says

      September 14, 2013 at 1:43 am

      Thank you Chelsey!

      Reply
  2. Shaunna @ Fantastic Fun and Learning says

    September 20, 2013 at 10:33 am

    My girls would play with this forever! Great idea. Thanks so much for sharing in the Discover & Explore linky. I’m featuring this post today.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 20, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      Thank you Shaunna! Honored to be featured 🙂

      Reply
  3. Stephanie @ Twodaloo says

    September 20, 2013 at 11:25 am

    How fun is this? I’m so glad you were inspired to create your own invitation to play after reading our series. It really is a wonderful way for little ones to play and learn. Terrific job@

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 20, 2013 at 5:59 pm

      Thank you for the inspiration!

      Reply
  4. Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest says

    September 23, 2013 at 12:53 am

    Such an inviting invitation to play! I love it!
    And you’re so right – 3 is a magical age isn’t it? My little guy would likely do the parking lot thing too. 🙂

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 23, 2013 at 12:58 am

      Thank you Ann – yes, I love 3 – big enough to do so much, and small enough to still enjoy the magic and wonder in everything. The parking lot game keeps growing each time we play! I think soon that will be the game itself!!

      Reply
  5. Becca says

    November 4, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    What an awesome idea, Sarah! I will absolutely be doing this tomorrow with my boys! Just found you tonight via pinterest and excited to look through your archives 🙂

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      November 5, 2013 at 12:08 pm

      Welcome Becca! So glad you found me and like some of our play invitations 🙂

      Reply

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