Sugar and spice and all things nice

Thursday 28th June 2018 

Our class really enjoy making homemade play dough as it’s a whole lot cheaper than its commercially produced counterpart and making our own also means that we can easily enhance the sensory nature of the dough by experimenting with different combinations of scents, textures, colours and other visual elements. The combination of spices and citrus used in this blend makes this dough an aromatic feast for the senses. 

Our spicy themed invitation to play included adding natural materials and spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, rosemary, ground turmeric, paprika and coco powder. Teamed with pine cones, shells and bamboo cut offs, this activity was a great way to explore patterns and shapes in nature. In early winter such play dough recipes that include warm scents can be one of the most inviting little play set up of all, with textures and patterns to imprint and explore. 

We simply added one tablespoon of each spice right at the end of the mixing process, and kneaded it in thoroughly. We coloured the boiling water with orange gel colours to produce a vibrant hue and the combination of colour and spices makes this such a warm dough to work with.  

Olivia rolled her cinnamon dough and said “This is minty. Fresh.” As she associated spices with peppermint. “Taste strong.” Said Milo as he tested the paprika dough. “Stars there…see the stars.” Observed Charlie, as he crushed his star anise with a rolling pin. “My upside down cake.” Isabel asserted, pressing her bowl onto the table to flatten her cake. “Sprinkle coco chocolate.” Hazel instructed Charlie as they took initiative to add a bit of spice to their creations. Nature has an amazing way of keep our children’s attention and focus.

The children were able to explore all of the different ways impressions could be made using pinecones, stones and rough edges of wood cut offs.

To extend on our exploration with sense of smell, we may introduce a mortar and pestle and try out a citrus crush using lemons, oranges, rosemary sprigs and our spices. We could combine the ingredients to see which combinations work best as well as practice using our fine motor movements. We may even create spice based paints to facilitate open-ended play.