Pedagogy of Play

How do students learn through experimentation? With this one day "art party" students were asked to experiment and  sculpt different shapes such as cubes, spheres, coils and create an animal that stands on its own. Since they couldn't keep the play dough there wasn't pressure to make any one thing. This helped students break from their inhibitions to try what was asked then explore and let their imaginations go free once they had built confidence.  

Play Dough Recipe:
2 Cups Flour                     2 tbsp Vegetable Oil                    2 Cups water
Food Dye                           2 tbsp Cream of Tartar               1 1/2 Cups Salt
Peppermint Essential Oil

Mix Flour, vegetable oil, salt, cream of tartar together in a bowl. Boil water and add dye to water, once boiling add to dry mixture then add the peppermint oil. Stir until mixed thoroughly then cool. Once cooled knead the dough such as bread until the dough is at the correct consistency. Add flour if too sticky.