Dough Exploration

The children came inside after finishing an outdoor play session. After a snack and a little downtime, a new work session started. In our school-age program, children choose their work. We call it work, but it is purposeful play. Play guides the work of school-age children. Purposeful play includes collaborative project work where children apply knowledge learned in school. As children directly apply new knowledge to project work, it becomes sticky to the brain.

Each day in our program, children choose to continue projects from the previous day or create new projects. Some children choose to read, do homework, or play with another child. New project ideas begin with the children. Often, projects are collaborations between children and teachers. On this day, a small group of children decided to play with some pre-made dough in the classroom.

An essential practice in school-age care is offering children a choice. In many programs, adults plan all the activities for children. When adults plan all the activities, it creates a paralysis in the children's thinking. Adult-planned activities block children's natural drive to be curious and inventive. Our training as educators tells us that pre-planning activity is essential and is the only way to have a successful program.

As the dough exploration started, I sat in a chair off to the side and observed. The children began hand-building with the dough. They rolled, squished, and pounded the dough into the table. A few children noticed that the dough had a scent. The small group started talking about the smell and shared a specific sensation or memory it created in them.

Next, the children noticed the color of the dough correlated with the scent. A discussion started about the dough's ingredients and how it created a specific smell. The discovery of color and fragrance invited questions for the children to explore. The children decided to experiment with creating new scents by combining different dough colors.

The children mixed small portions of the dough. After mixing, the children took turns smelling the new dough combinations and discovered that some dough colors featured a pungent smell. Through experimentation, the children made another discovery. The strong-smelling dough was difficult to transform into new scents. The children quit mixing the strongest-smelling doughs and started mixing the less dominant smelling dough into new combinations.

The children decided to play with dough. Playing with dough created an opportunity to make discoveries. With children leading the learning, the experience and its meaning become personal. Child-directed activities connect to the moment. What children create is less important than the experience they are having.

After creating new dough combinations and scents, the children started to hand build. After a short discussion, a small group formulated a plan to mold the dough into fruit and candy shapes and create a store. Some children started making dough candy, while others created signs on dry erase boards to advertise the store. Dough play continued for the entire afternoon.

The scent experiment was the beginning of a multi-day exploration of dough making. The children's play expanded out of a desire to discover the possibilities of the material. Our learning community follows the children's lead. As educators, we play alongside the children, follow their lead, and offer guidance when necessary. Following the children is how true play and our learning community grows.

What supports do you need to add more child-directed play into your program?