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Green is my favorite color, so we go all out with everything green on St. Patrick’s Day. My kids and I wear all green clothes, we try to eat as many green foods as possible, and this year I’m making our STEAM activity green too!
Last year I shared a fun and easy play-dough recipe on the blog. We used that same recipe to make play-dough again but this time we made it green!
We also added in some plastic gold coins to go with the classic St. Patrick’s Day pot of gold at end of the rainbow theme. I practiced math with my daughter using the gold coins, and then I let her play independently using her imagination to play.
Here’s how you can do this fun St. Patrick’s Day themed STEAM activity with your kids today. (p.s. This is the same recipe as in my original play-dough post, but the measurements of ingredients are cut in half to make a smaller batch.)
Materials:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1/2 cup water
- green food coloring
- optional: essential oil, glitter
- Gold coins
Procedure:
I had my kids help me with all the steps until I turned on the heat (step 6).
- Pour water into a small bowl and mix in food coloring.
- Mix in the cooking oil.
- Transfer the liquid mixture to a saucepan.
4. Add the flour, cream of tartar, and salt; mix well.
5. Cook over low heat until the dough starts to come together and dry out a bit.
6. Once it can be formed into a ball remove it from the heat and let cool.
7. Optional: add ~5 drops essential oil, and/or glitter to jazz up your play-dough.
8. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then it’s ready to for play!
9. Let kids play with the play-dough using their imaginations, and you can also lead focused play by using the play-dough for math practice. We practiced counting all the gold coins first. Next, I made a few piles of coins and asked my daughter to count each pile. Then I asked her to answer more-than and less-than questions about the piles. I kept the math on my daughter’s pre-k3 level, and she had fun instead of getting frustrated with the questions.
10. Store play-dough in a ziplock bag to keep it from drying out.
STEAM CONCEPTS LEARNED:
- Art: Kids are learning the color green, in this color-focused play-dough. Kids are also learning the very important art of imaginative play.
- Math: Kids practice measurements and fractions (when adding ingredients). There is also opportunity for counting and addition/subtraction practice during play with the gold coins.
- Kids are learning how to follow directions, attention to detail, and creative independent thinking during play time.
This is a perfect holiday-themed activity or for any day at home to keep your kids entertained. Both my kids really enjoy playing with play-dough. Every time we make a fresh batch and find a few fun add-ons (like the gold coins in this case) they can play with it for hours! It is blissful quiet time for me to do some work, while they are happy with independent imaginative play.
Do you like to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with green themed activities like us? If you’re looking for some more St. Patrick’s Day fun, check out my previous Green, Gold, and Rainbow St. Patrick’s Day STEAM Activities!
