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Educational Value of Play - Modelling

Modelling

Modelling involves children exploring a pliable substance such as clay or playdough to make 3D representations of their ideas. Paper maché, plasticine, pulp (shredded paper soaked in water and wizzed in a blender) and wax are other medium which will give children valuable experiences.

  

Physical

Manipulating the modelling medium and using plastic knives, cutters, rollers, moulds etc are valuable in developing children’s fine motor skills. It also develops hand-eye coordination.

Language/Social Development

Modelling provides children with a unique tactile and expressive experience. Clay allows children to experiment with a natural substance. Tie a length of nylon fishing line to two sticks for cutting clay. To add variety to your child’s clay experience add materials such as seeds, bamboo, hessian, leaves, corks, feathers, sticks, shells, straw. Select items such as shells to make impressions in a flat slab of clay. Keep unused clay moist and wrapped in plastic so it will last. Provide an icecream container of water so children can keep their hands moist whilst working with the clay. Dried clay may be reconstituted by soaking in a bucket of water.

The variety of recipes for making play dough give a wonderful opportunity to allow children to make their dough as well. (A variety of recipes will appear in our monthly newsletters) A flour shaker will help keep the dough workable.
Add rice, sequins, glitter, sawdust  or eucalyptus oil and other essences to add to the sensory value of using dough.

An easy glue for making paper maché is wallpaper paste. Balloons are ideal foundations for making shapes.

Mathematical Concepts

Children experiment with shape and changing shape using modelling. They also join and separate shapes and explore whole-part relationships – eg. making 4 small pieces of dough to be the same length as one long piece of dough (early fraction work).  Moving pieces of dough around helps children come to understand that the number of objects doesn't change whether they are close together or spread apart.

Add these things for a richer experience:

  • Different types of dough
  • Extra flour - changes the texture of cooking dough
  • Rolling pins
  • Plastic knives and forks
  • Dough cutters - different sizes and shapes
  • Match sticks, buttons for decoration
  • Rice, sequins for texture
  • Peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, aromatic oils for smell