In honor of National Play-Doh Day, we thought we would share a few of our favorite play dough recipes and a fun STEAM challenge.

STEAM Engineering Challenge

Young children learn about science through hands-on experiences. They learn by observing, thinking, and talking about how materials feel and how they change.

You can encourage scientific thinking. Talk about how this new kind of dough looks and feels. Introduce words like texture, grainy, smooth, and lumpy. Your child might declare, “I’m making this flat!” as she pushes down on play dough with the palm of her hand. Or she may say, “I’m making it soft,” as she adds water to dry play dough to make it more pliable. When you ask, “What do you think would happen if we added too much water?” you are helping her understand the scientific concept of cause and effect.

Have fun with this engineering challenge!

Materials Needed

• Play dough
• Straws
• Duplo or LEGO bricks

Instructions

Using the items featured above, challenge your child to see how tall he can build a structure using play dough, Duplos or LEGOS, and straws. The challenge is to make sure the structure stands and does not fall over.

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