Ladies & Gents I very excited to present my FAVE craftivtity creator of all time, TERI!!
Enjoy her post while I’m away!
Enjoy her post while I’m away!
Hi everyone!
I’m Teri from A Cupcake for the Teacher,
and I’m excited to be here today! 🙂
I have a fun first day freebie to share with you!
Have you heard of Magic Playdoh??
I first discovered Magic Playdoh before school started last year.
I thought it was the cutest idea, so I made a batch for my little ones.
Let me tell you. They. LOVED. It.
I will definitely be doing it again this year with my firsties!!
If you haven’t heard of it, the idea behind Magic Playdoh is that it starts off white, and if it *just so happens to change color* when you squeeze it, then you’re going to have a great year! Genius, right?!
Toward the end of the first day of school, I hand out Ziploc baggies of Magic Playdoh.
I display a little poster and read a poem with my class:
{I didn’t write the poem– I found it at Fun in First Grade— but no one knows where it originated!!}
Then I have my kiddos squish up the playdoh… INSIDE the Ziplocs first, to prevent the food coloring from staining their little fingers! It’s so fun to listen to them as they realize that their playdoh is changing colors!! Once it’s all smooshed up, the playdoh can be taken out and played with, without fear of blue or red hands.
I made these cute matching labels to put on the playdoh baggies:
{Download them for free HERE}
To make Magic Playdoh, you’ll need:
*1 cup flour
*1 cup water
*1/4 cup salt
*2 tsp. cream of tartar
*1 Tbls. vegetable oil
*food coloring
Then, just follow these steps:
1. Put all of your ingredients {EXCEPT the food coloring} into a pot and turn the stove on medium heat.
2. Stir, stir, stir! It’s going to take a few minutes to form.
3. Once your mixture forms a ball, remove from heat {I put it on a paper plate}.
4. Give it a second to cool, then separate the playdoh and form balls.
5. Poke a hole in each ball and put 3-4 drops of food coloring in them. Carefully close the ball without squeezing it, so the food coloring stays in the middle.
When you’re all done, put one “doh” ball in each baggie and seal the bag.
You’re all ready to take it to school! Your class will love it!!
*Note: I cut the recipe in half for this tutorial.
The full recipe will make about 8 decent size pieces!*
I hope that you enjoyed this little tutorial and that you can use it in your classroom! For more fun ideas, freebies, and more, stop by my blog!
Thank you Susan, for asking me to guest post today!! 🙂
Two of the sweetest gals around on one blog this morning? I am an heaven today 🙂 Great post, Teri. I think I just found me a weekend project!!
Kelley Dolling
Teacher Idea Factory
Oh, how I love me some Teri!! She is so good!
This is seriously the greatest idea ever!!!!!!!!!!! I have to do it! 🙂
Michelle
Isn't it?!? I wish I wasn't so busy on vacation so I could make it now!!!
Such a cute idea!! Teri, your students are so lucky to have you!!
So true… I wish I could just sit in her class and take notes lol
Thank you sweet friends!! Love you all!!
No, thank YOU Teri!! 🙂
Love this version! I made it last year and my Firsties LOVED it! Thanks for sharing:-)
I love this activity and do it every year. I am always paranoid that I forgot to put food coloring in one of the balls and it won't change colors!!!
I love your blog and Teri's. You are both as sweet as can be. =)
Heather
Heather's Heart
Aww, Heather 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!! I have never made this before – I'm excited to try it!!
I must have missed the memo on having the kids squish it IN the bag last year!! Let's just say my students had a very messy first 5 minutes of second grade 🙂 Thanks for sharing the labels!
Kate
EduKate and Inspire
Oh my goodness!!!! That is the cutest thing ever!! I'm sure the kids will just love it!! 🙂 What a great way to start the year. I can't wait to do this. Thank you so much for sharing!
I have done this as well. Kids love it. Make sure your play dough is cool before you put it in the baggie. I rushed it one year and ended up with a sticky mess on their fingers!
Great idea…but I'm wondering how messy the food coloring is on their little hands???
Great idea…but I'm wondering how messy the food coloring is on their little hands???
Love, love, love the poem! I have used the play dough activity, but with the poem…double the fun for my kinders! By the by, I use unsweetened koolaid to color AND scent the dough…the kiddos go nuts. Not only a color change but smells good, too. Your classroom smells fantastic at the end of this activity!
About a 1/4 teaspoon of koolaid will fill 8 balls (1 recipe).
This looks like so much fun! I am going to try it with my kindergarten class this school year. Thank you for such a great idea.
My son’s teacher did this with him this year… He came home & couldn’t wait to tell me all about it. He said he’s going to have the best school year yet! My little guy had a hard start to education with a HORRIBLE Pre-K teacher, so this excitement for education again is AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing your ideas… It has been a true transformation for my little guy!!! I can’t begin to tell you how much this idea meant to me, but more importantly how much it meant to my son!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
Thank you for posting this! It looks like so much fun. I can’t wait to try it!