Recently Allen’s sent me a couple of bags of Allen’s Sea Stretchies. In the spirit of trying to use everything in life as a lesson, I thought I would use play dough as a way to help teach them about the Ocean and the water.
Allen’s Sea Stretchies have sea turtles, seahorses, swordfish and stingray in each pack – so I got my kids to pick ONE each (because one piece = one portion = PERFECT!) and we started talking about what each of them were.
While I got this activity set up (which included me Googling what each sea creature did, so that I looked like I knew everything), we talked about the Ocean and all the amazing things about it.
I whipped up some blue play dough, and put together a range of toys and ocean-type objects for the kids to learn. There are two steps before you can begin this activity: making the play dough, and then getting the ocean-themed materials
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PLAY DOUGH RECIPE:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon blue food colouring
Instructions to Make:
Mix all dry ingredients, add oil, food colouring and boiling water, mix well.
Tip dough onto a breadboard and VERY carefully knead until smooth. You have to be careful as it will be very hot. The more you knead it, the smoother it will be. Set aside to cool
The whole process takes about 5 mins. With about 10 mins extra to cool.
ADDITIONAL ITEMS:
I picked up some shells, pebbles and toys from my local Emporium. Alternatively you can go down to your local beach (if you have one) and get the items straight from the source! Make it an outing – your kids will LOVE it!
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Next, put your play dough and ocean-themed items in a bowl together, or on a plate.
Begin the conversation about the Ocean, and where each object belongs. The shells on the land (table), and the sea life in the play dough. Talk about the names of each sea-life toy, and it’s purpose.
Not only do they learn about the Ocean, but the kids are developing their fine motor skills to pinch, twist, roll, squeeze, flatten and mould the objects and play dough.
Their imaginations can run wild as they think about the different scenarios that can happen under the water. They get involved in the storytelling of the activity, and can learn new words at the same time.
I was actually pretty chuffed with myself for turning the Allen’s Sea Stretchies treat into a learning experience. They had fun, used their imagination, learned about the Ocean AND got a treat afterwards. I feel like I ticked all the boxes!!
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After we spent a good hour playing with this activity, I treated the kids to the Allen’s Sea Stretchies lolly that they picked out. As I mentioned above, these sea creatures are perfectly portioned – one of the Allen’s Sea Stretchies is equal to one portion!
This perfect portion means you know exactly how much your child getting – as a Mum it is often hard to find treats that are not only fun but also the right treat size. This way you don’t have to worry!
As I also mentioned above, Allen’s Sea Stretchies have sea turtles, seahorses, swordfish and stingray in each pack. And did I mention they are SUPER STRETCHY!
Thanks Allen’s for the lollies!
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