Astronaut craft made of Playdoh for kids

We have another craft for you, as always it will be made of playdoh. This time we will model an astronaut.

For making this crafts we’ll need:
- The board for modeling
- Blue playdoh
- Red playdoh
- Yellow playdoh
- Green playdoh
- Orange playdoh
- Black playdoh
- Brown playdoh
- Purple playdoh
- White playdoh

How to model the astronaut?

1. Make a square head. In the middle of the front part of the head stick oval illuminator made of white playdoh, and put a thin red border around the illuminator. In order the astronaut could hear, stick the headphones made of black playdoh on both sides of the head.

2. Make a rectangular body. Attach an orange pad to the body, and stick multi-colored control knobs to it.

3. Attach the head to the body.

4. Modeling the hands. Roll ten balls of the same size from the playdoh of different colors. Five balls for one hand and five balls to the other hand. Flatten the balls between the thumb and the forefinger to turn them into the flat cakes. Combine the flat cakes with each other to get the hands. Stick your hands to the body.

5. Modeling the feet. As you probably have already guessed, looking at the picture of the astronaut, we make the feet like hands, and also stick them to the body. Now we are ready to fly to cosmos.

That's all; the astronaut craft made of playdough is ready. Now, call your kid and try to model your own astronaut. You can do it.

Modeling from playdoh is very useful for the child, because it promotes the development of creative thinking, imagination, small motor skills.

These are just some of the ways to use the playdoh for kids. Of course, you can come up with many other crafts. The child will tell you a lot of interesting ideas to use the playdoh, if he gets such great material for craft as the playdoh!
Also it is useful, because it gives the fingers muscle training. Especially, when they have to spread it over the surface or pinch off small pieces. The crafts with the playdoh develop fine motor skills of the hands, preparing them for school loads. And remember, frequent usage of the playdoh develops perseverance and accuracy.

Clown Craft Made of Playdoh

Playdoh is easy to make at home, and fun for kids of all ages. It is used by children as a material for crafts. The usage of the playdoh contributes to the development of finger coordination. And of course, such creative work requires safe playdoh.

Modeling, using playdoh, is not only fun and exciting, but also a very useful exercise for kids. Like any other creative exercise, it develops the artistic taste and imagination. It requires precision and patience, so it also develops the willpower and perseverance, which is a great training for the increased hyperactivity of children. And finally, because the kids use the fingers actively, they develop the coordination of small hands and promote the development of fine motor skills, which in turn has a positive effect on speech development of the child.

Today we are going to make a clown out of playdoh, but it will be unusual clown made on the sheet of paper.
So, you will need a piece of paper (if you find a pasteboard, it’ll be even better), the playdoh itself, and two toy eyes. These eyes can be bought in stores. And we took the eyes from an old book.

First of all, my daughter rolled the ball from yellow playdoh and made a pancake, flattening a ball on a sheet of paper. After that she stuck the eyes, cheeks in the form of flat cakes, the nose and the mouth. Together we made a clown hat. And we've got such a funny and amusing face. At first glance it seems very simple, but for the child it is like science. While modeling, we repeat the colors and geometric shapes, for example the clown’s face is a round, the nose is a ball, and the hat is a triangle. Also we call the colors and the parts of the face in different languages.

Of course, you can make the dough for modeling yourself. There are a lot of recipes for making the dough. We offer the following recipe of dough for modeling as an example. Take a glass of flour, half a glass of salt, less than half a glass of water and blend the ingredients until smooth. If the dough is short, add some water, but if it strongly sticks to the hands, add the flour. In order to make colored dough for modeling, you can add the food colorings.

We will be glad, if you share your recipe of dough for sculpting. Recipes can be left in the comments.

Play dough creative tools

Once they have learned the important techniques you can show them the tools. You may buy the huge range of specially designed play dough toys. You might do that, however it's not very necessary. For example on your kitchen there are so many cylinders that can be as the rolling pin. Try for instance the spice jar, or maybe vegetables can or frozen juice container that is empty. Cups, lids, jars may be used for cutting ideal circles. Flyswatters, forks or meat tenderizers will make unusual shapes in play dough to press the play dough very slowly through the little holes. The Popsicle stick or the spoons handle may become a blunt knife or for example the sculpting tool.

So if it is still not enough, the toy box with the various supplies of your kid might bring lots of other choices. In case your kid is in the age of two – four years old, you might start to practice the practicing the scissors skills. It would be a good idea to get the good pair of play dough plastic scissors. All types of construction like a Lego can make wonderful prints on the dough. The toy cars with the thread on the wheels may be driven over the play dough parking lot. Really the varieties of using the play dough are surely endless.

What about the mess?

Lots of parents believe play dough is really messy to play it every day, and some even forbid it, however with a few plain methods the mess won’t be a problem at all. You may purchase special container in a dollar store to keep all your kid's supplies including cans of dough, the mat, tools, and, you may as well put on your child, your old T-shirt to cover the kid’s clothing. Having a special play dough area like a kitchen table or the floor in a play room etc. will keep other places clean every time the play dough comes out. So teach your child to wash the hands before and of course after the playing with the play dough. Once the kid finished cleaning, parent should make sure that the containers are tightly sealed.

If you or your kid accidentally put some play dough on the carpet or maybe couch, just stay calm. Remove the possible pieces by sticking it with the small ball of the dough and let the rest of play dough dry. The next day, just scrape already dry play dough with the rigid brush and then vacuum. If something remains, you might need to try cold water and soap and you will see it will come out and there is no reason to worry.

How to care and use Play-doh?

As you can notice, all kinds of dough, even the best brands are fairly cheap, however they all would last longer if to use and care of them properly. Surely the main rule is to keep play dough in a tightly sealed container when it’s not used. Also it’s very important to play with clean hands. It will help to preserve the dough from germs, other external stuff and will keep the colors bright.

A clean surface and clean tools are needed for same reasons. It can be any washable and smooth surface. In our classroom every kid uses a vinyl placemat that is place on the table surface. Solid color mats are more preferable and better to enhance the kid's personal fantasy. There are as well some mats with numbers, letters, and simple shapes, that the kids enjoying to copy in dough.

So it’s a good idea to teach your little kid to flatten, pinch, mound, squeeze, and roll the dough into wanted shapes.

How to make playdough

Playdoh, everyone loves it. At least till the lid is somewhere lost again and you need to purchase another container of the play dough. Surely you don’t even realize how very easy the play dough is to produce once you come across the really simple recipe that you may find in internet or some magazine, so it would be the great idea to share it with the readers of hub pages. Just follow the plain directions on that hub that will help you to create your play dough in a couple of minutes!
The following ingredients would be needed to make your play dough (which amount to make is up to you, just follow the basic rules):

- 1 Cup of plain Salt
- 2 Cups regular flour
- 1 Tablespoon of Cream of Tartar (optional but extra elastic!)
- Food Colouring (any type)
- 2 Cups of Water
- 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil (vegetable)
- Scented Oils

Combine all ingredients altogether in the saucepan and don’t forget to stir occasionally on a low heat, keep doing this until the mixture is thickened and will look a little bit like the mashed potatoes. When the play dough has finally clumped and pulled away from all sides, remove a pan from the heat. If the Play dough is sticky then you have to heat it for longer! If it is not sticky anymore so then it is ok!

Once the dough is ready, put it on the counter or regular smooth surface and knead thoroughly and continuously until it becomes absolutely smooth and soft. Divide the play dough into several balls for coloring. For example if you want three different colors, divide it into three, and prepare three different food coloring, if you want four different colors so divide the dough in four balls!

Stick the finger into the centre of every ball and pour a bit of food coloring in, then fold the paly dough over so that the food coloring is trapped and then work it through the dough using your hands. Try to keep the raw food coloring away from the hands or the counter (sometimes it easier to say then to do). It’s recommended to use plastic gloves or maybe wrapping the dough in sticky film at this phase, unless of course you want to have hands like a leprechaun or Satan. Keep doing the work the coloring through; add some more coloring if it’s necessary. The coloring will not stain in tiny concentrations, just the pure stuff.

How to make play doh (easy no-cook recipe)

Our kids play with the play doh nearly every day just making pretend dinners, or the worm families or the funny faces on the table. They own a big tub full of playdoh tools that they got from 93 years old great grandmother.
1 Minute recipe of Play doh:

Your will need:
- 1 cup of regular flour
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1 tablespoon of tartar cream (Cream of Tartar is the natural powdered raising agent that is good for use in the scones, soda bread or a wide range of other recipes)
- 1 cup of hot boiling water mixed with food coloring (OR a the contents of three blackberry fruit tea bags for nice bright rich purple)

Things to do:
Place all the dry components in the bowl and then mix thoroughly with hot water. Surely you will make incredible play dough which would last really long in some plastic sandwich bags.

Edible playdough recipe

That is children’s favorite type of play dough, and you can’t blame them. After you’re done creating monsters, funny faces, trees, and animals, just feel free to eat it up. This recipe is 100% edible and may be eaten instantly.

Ingredients:
- 3 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1 Kool-Aid Mix package (any flavor of unsweetened)
- 1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Put all dry ingredients in the large or medium pan. Pour water and oil. Stir over low heat until it looks light dough. Doesn’t matter which color of kool aid package used the result should be visible at the end. It will take about 8 minutes.

How to make play dough at home

Making things with the play dough is all up to your fantasy, including of one of the best developing play activities for kids. It is not only works as a brain exercise, however also it proves the way of sharpening the creative skills of children. And simply it’s the activity where the imagination has no limits at all. Kids love creating things with the play dough and moreover they love wasting it as well.

There is good news for the parents. They can make the play dough for their little ones at home, without buying it in the store. In case you’re looking for some help, check our simple recipe of homemade play dough, you would love it. Easy homemade play dough recipe

Needed Ingredients:
- 4 cups of Flour
- 2 cups of plain Salt
- 4 cups of Water
- Food Colors -optional
- 4 tbsp of Cooking Oil

Play-doh making instruction:
1. Put altogether the needed ingredients and then mix all dry ingredients in one texture.
2. Pour water and food color, if you wish. That in case you want to have colorful play dough.
3. Place every ingredient in a large or medium pan and then heat it over the medium flame.
4. Don’t forget stirring the mixture repeatedly, that way it won’t be get lumps, keep doing that until the dough turns into stiff and smooth.
5. Once the mixture reaches the stiff texture, remove it from the heat. Let the mixture to cool down and then knead it, till it becomes very smooth.
6. Store your play dough in perfectly sealed container. When the play dough is not in use, you may keep it in the fridge, it will help to avoid the appearing of bacteria.

The Play Dough Recipe

Mix 1 cup of regular flour with a half of cup of plain salt, add one tablespoon of tartar or alum cream. Put aside. Then In heavy bowl or pan mix 1 cup of cold water and one tablespoon of any oil. Add a good squirt of food color liquid. Stir well and mix with dry components. Cook the mixture on a medium heat, constantly stirring. During the cooking it will form lumps it’s absolutely ok, so keep cooking and don’t forget stirring until it will form the stiff ball.

Quick put the dough on the floured surface and the just knead until it gets smooth. Careful it’ll be hot! Once the play dough cools down, place it and you may start creating.

How to Play and Learn with Play Dough?

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Kids like playing with the play dough and that is even more interesting when they can make it by themselves. It is useful for kids to observe the process of making it and get even a slight idea of how plain everyday items at the home kitchen tools necessary tools for this kind of project.
Kids learn math when they need to measure the needed amount of the exact ingredient. They will be able to do counting once their play dough is made. They learn communicative skills as well. However the most important, the kids learn while they are having fun. Kids have the possibility to use their creative and turn on the imagination. The play dough games can be played as well in groups, in pairs, alone, or with the adults.

Kids learn through a great variety of ways, the one of the varieties is through the play dough texture. Play dough allows kids to explore it with the senses as touch and smell. When children mix all the ingredients they are enhancing their senses touch, and if adults want to let them have some fun it would be great to add Kool-Aid for a nice color and moreover for a tasty smell that will make kid’s smelling senses go crazy.

Children may play alone or in the group settings, that enables them to be involved in social play, or solitary play, or parallel play, or associative play, and even cooperative play. In the book the pathways to play, it states, "to play successfully with the others, kids should learn how to coordinate their way of behavior and to cooperate". Playing with the play dough allows kids to interact with other kids with a bit of pressure from the adults. It means they can enjoy the play and by giving them a chance to be involved into the process of creating their own play dough things they build own self-confidence and moreover they are eager to learn.

It is better for parents to be prepared with all the needed compounds and tools as well as preparing the area that is really close to the sink in case if you need to clean. This project is quite simple and just needs the table and some chairs to start creating a fun and exciting learning environment with lots of opportunities for using the imagination to discover the creative world of play dough. A perfect place should be as plain as for example your kitchen, or maybe your patio outside or of course teacher’s classroom. If you’re planning to redesign your art place, provide time, and some space, and surely the materials that will let kids to work at their own places without being interrupted. That area may include all the necessary ingredients in one, and no doubt the tools to measure or mix in another, but all should be in reach for the kids.

This project is directed on the kids the ages of 2-5. A two year old child might learn the necessary motor skills just simply by measuring with a usual tablespoon and the older child might learn the important concept of conservation. Children in that age group certainly require more control of the finger movement that allows them to become skillful in using tiny materials that need to be grasped and controlled. This is ideal for children for developing their motor skills. By actually measuring with the special spoons or rolling with the rolling pins kids obtain useful tools and what’s important they are not aware that they are actually learning. Children at the age group of 0-2 are still in the stage of motor sensor according to the famous Vygotsky. So it means that children surely want to touch and of course to taste everything. This is just fine for this project. Parents can feel safe because all of the ingredients of the play dough are absolutely safe to consume. Also the play dough has a unique texture that kids may love or even hate, however it is more likely that they would enjoy exploring. Play dough and the great variety of tools permits the kids to manipulate and really experiment with forms, combination, texture, and transformation in different things. Kids can pinch it, poke it, pull it, even likely to smash it back together or just put the object inside of it. The cookie cutters may also be used for fun as easy making shapes. They surely would enjoy the nice soft texture.

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How to Play and Learn with Play Dough?

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Older children at the age group of 3-4 can learn even more cognitively. They can be introduced to the conservation, defined in the Play and Child Development book as, "the special ability to understand the physical attributes of material reside consistent, even to alter it or rearrange". The kids can be shown how the measuring cups of various sizes still measure exactly the same amount of any liquid. Subdivision, or dividing the things, will be a vivid learning concept. So the kids can take several pieces of the play dough for example equal in size, then stretch, or roll, or flatten them just to see the dough transformation from its original condition. A preschool kid playing with play dough may decide that two paly dough balls are the same sizes when they are the exact same shape. Yet, once one of the balls is rolled into the snake or just flattened into a lovely pancake, the kind surely changes mind and concludes that the skinny and long play dough is surely now larger. The kids will learn the differences between such as wet or dry, full o empty, hot or cold. Play dough is a thing that enables kid’s imaginations to run wild and adults definitely will have fun just teaching the children.

Kids of different ages should be even encouraged to play altogether however not pressured to do that. Solitary play is fine as well as the parallel aware. Young kids learn especially by active involvement with adults and by manipulating the objects. The kids may want to share their own ideas with each another or they may want just to sneak a peek. Whatever the case, the kids need to be encouraged to use their creativity. The teacher or parent should indicate what to make to the children, however give some ideas by discussing various animals or some shapes that they can observe around. This would be called the intervention method of narrowly directed play of teaching and guiding. For example the adults set up the scene for the kids to involve them into an activity and only participate in the process just to encourage the kids to use their imagination or some verbal skills. This may be a productive dialogue between the kid and adult and also among the other children.

Some children might be really stressed and trying to cope with the emotional factors which cause them to be mad or sad. Play dough is a perfect outburst of negative emotions. The kids are free to smash, pound, squeeze, pinch, slap, or cut the dough. All of these are good outbursts for any components of anger and anxiety. The children are able to release the negative emotions without scolding and without causing any harm to someone or some things.

Making the play dough is truly a real fun. Parents should be involved in the process with the children; however let the children do up to 99% of the work. Creating the play dough is kids friendly and the adults can introduce mathematics by letting the kids the measuring and prompting the imagination to have no limits when they making anything that little minds desire. Play dough is really simple that majority already have special tools and components in their kitchen so it is fairly cheap as well. This project may last for even hours and children will have not only fun doing that, but also they will release any inner feelings such as frustration or maybe anger. Moreover the whole project is not messy at all and the play dough should be also kept in the fridge for another day. Play dough will bring a funny and organized play time for kids. At the one time as they can learn and surely develop physical and moreover cognitive skills. Play dough is a perfect old fashioned play for having fun!

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Who uses play dough?

Preschool is the perfect age to offer play dough. Kids at age of three or four – still very sensitive learners and through the useful play dough they can open the world of science and art. They adore the bright colors, nice scent and soft texture. Surely kids enjoy watching the dough squeezed through the fingers. They smell it, and no doubt, some try to taste it. Homemade and bought play dough is non-toxic, however it’s better not to use such enhancers as glitter or gravel in case your kid is under age of three.

By shaping the dough into different forms children learn that the flat "pancake" is the just the same amount of the dough as the thin cylinder. It’s absolutely fine if they mix up the different colors of the, it’s just the way of learning the color properties.

What are the ingredients in Play Dough compound?

The precise ingredients of Play Dough are proprietary, that’s why we are not allowed to share that info with you. We share with you just that it is a kind of primarily a mix of water, flour and salt. It does NOT have any peanuts or peanut oil, or any milk products. It sure DOES contain the wheat.
Play-Doh ingredients are not a food and are not supposed to be eaten.

Play doh ingredients are non-irritating, non-toxic, and non-allergenic just except as noted: Kids that are allergic to wheat gluten night have the allergic reaction to that product. Also the PLAY-DOUGH can be dangerous for pets in case of swallowing, due to the high salt concentration in the product compound.

The MSDS sheet is not required for PLAYDOUGH ingredients.

Play doh history

When you start to think about the educational toys, no doubt the play dough stays on the top positions in your list. If it is not, it certainly should be. Usually People prefer to use the famous Hasbro Toys brand name "Play-Doh". It is believed has the best structure of any that have been found and better storage life than others. And here are some facts from the play dough history.

1956
PLAY-DOH Brand original compound is a non-toxic and reusable modeling combination developed in Cincinnati by Rainbow Crafts ,it is displayed and sold in a toy department of famous Woodward & Lothrop Store in Washington, D.C. PLAY-DOH brand compound is available just in one color and one size, 1.5-pound of off-white can. The year before, it had been presented to public.

1957
Appear the new three colors in the PLAY DOH compound line – blue, red, yellow, which are available in the three-pack. Earlier TV commercial featuring Miss Frances on "Captain Kangaroo" and "Ding Dong School".

1958 is the next step in play doh history
The four-pack appears, including the previous blue, yellow, red plus the white new play doh Compound, that debuted at American Toy Fair.

1960
The newly appeared FUN FACTORY play set extends the line, so PLAY DOH Pete debuted with new logo.

1964
PLAY-DOH Compound comes to the international market. It appears on sale in Italy, France and England.

1970
The PLAY-DOH Pete TV advertising, featuring the famous image on all packaging of PLAY DOH Compound, is acknowledged to the top of 100 best Advertising Age commercials.

1971
Kenner Products has merged with Rainbow Crafts, so playdoh Compound has become the essential part of well-known Kenner line.

1972
Wow! The 500,000,000th can of famous playdoh Compound is released out of a factory.

1983
Play Dough Compound introduces to the public the new pack of eight Rainbow colors. The four new colors were added to the original four.

The next step in play dough history is 1986
After 30 years of producing the cardboard cans, the play dough Compound packaging receives a makeover. Very tightly sealed, and easy-to-open the plastic containers that ensure the longer-lasting life of compound.

1991
PLAY-DOH Compound has joint Hasbro, Inc. as the part of the new Playskool line, when Hasbro purchased the TONKA Corporation and Kenner and Parker Brothers divisions.

1996
In the 40th own birthday of play dough Compound, two new colors were introduced by Hasbro , silver and gold along with new PLAY-DOH CREATIONS, the new educational game on CD-ROM for kids.

1997
The play doh fuzzy pumper barber & beauty shop play set, introduced with a play character whose "hair" is possible to extrude and style, so was re-introduced in 20 years after the first appearance.

2000
The PLAY DOH the Colorful Campaign collected over 100,000 votes to define the country's beloved colors of playdough compound. Purple Paradise, Rose Red, Blue Lagoon, and of course Garden Green won as favorites.

The next step in play dough history is 2003
The great PLAY DOH CREATIVITY TABLE was introduced. It is all-in-one play station that provides a space for a creative play, including the markers and crayons and PLAY-DOH compound!

2006
PLAY-DOH Compound turned 50 years. To mark this milestone, Hasbro presented the PLAY DOH BIRTHDAY BUCKET and moreover the play doh 50-PACK of variety of colors, that includes six new amazing pastel colors. Furthermore the famous PLAY DOH FUZZY PUMPER BARBER and BEAUTY SHOP play sets has returned as the exciting FUZZY PUMPER CRAZY CUTS play set, what is more the PLAY DOH CREATIVITY CENTER offered to kids the new place for playing, plus a lot of storage and a nice handy Pick Up Stick to help to clean playdough off the playing surfaces.

So, now you know some main facts from the play doh history.