9. Making Playdough!!!!!

People may already have heard about this one, but I absolutely love making my own playdough.  It's a cheap and an easy project that really is a lot of fun and can provide numerous therapeutic benefits.  To facilitate this activity I would first figure out how many people would be participating in this activity and adjust the measurements of each of the ingredients accordingly.  I would have the ingredients pre measured for each individual and then tell them the basic procedure of first adding all of the ingredients together. The basic recipe for one batch calls for: 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of warm water, 1 cup of salt, 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 Tablespoon of cream of tartar, and your choice of food coloring , (the food coloring will be added later).  Therefore I would need the appropriate amount of pans or bowls and spoons. The next step would be to continuously stir the ingredients over low heat and stir until the mixture falls off the sides of the pan or bowl and starts to become a dry playdough consistency. For this step I would access to a stove which I would have to assist certain individuals depending on the population I was working with. Once the playdough has cooled down I would give each individual their playdough and have them choose which colors they would like to use, have them add a couple of drops of the food coloring and knead it into the dough.  Then they can play and enjoy their new creations.  Depending on the population I may use discussion questions in the end gain a grasp on how everyone felt about the activity.

The populations that I think this would be great for would be children who have cognitive disabilities, behavioral disabilities such as ADHD, emotional distress, and autism since it will teach them about different textures, shapes, and colors, and also it will help them learn how to socialize and work with others since they could work towards a common goal of creating the playdough and also the challenge of creating something with what they made.  It also could be great for people who have had a stroke since working with the playdough would be great therapy for working on fine motor skills that may have been lost or impaired. And finally this would be a perfect activity for adults with cognitive disabilities since it would give them a fun activity and also allow them to work and socialize with others. I actually did this activity at the Easter Seals camp I volunteered at.  The people there had a variety of types of disabilities that ranged from cognitive disabilities to spina bifida, to ADHD.

 Some things to keep in mind would be to make sure that I would help individuals who are not able to reach the stove or that using the stove would be dangerous for them such as children.  I would also double check that there weren't any allergies with the ingredients that we would be using. If I were working with kids that have attention or behavioral issues I would make sure that they would have volunteers helping them to keep them on track and make sure they do not bother any of the other children working on their playdough. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/#step1