NatMo & Play Dough
& The New Tool !
Candice and Natalie ~ January 14, 2009
Natalie loves play dough. On Friday I
looked around the kitchen to see what I
could find. In the pantry I found a neatlooking pastry cutter.
She tried like this.
But she wanted to get it flat.
So we tried that.
Natalie showed me
some different ways to
flatten the play dough.
We tried them, but they
didn’t really work.
Then she remembered
about something… the
rolling pin!
“Help me?”
She still needed
some help, but
now I had the
right tool. I
made it flat,
and cut her a
triangle.
She made some lines in it. She
said, “It’s wet.” “It’s in the water.”
She picked up a
gingerbread man we had
cut out. She made lines
with the pastry cutter.
“He’s wet. He’s
in the water.”
When she was done with
the pastry cutter, we made
circles….
We kept playing for a
long time, and then we
cleaned up!
What It Means
Natalie, I had a lot of fun playing
play dough with you. You showed me
how excited you are to try new things,
how persistent you are, that you know
just when to ask for help, and that your
eyes and mind see things in such a creative way.
You have talented eyes. You can see and say all the
letters and numbers—even lower case. You know a lot
of sign language and can tell when your hand is a little
bit different from mine. You have a lot of patience for
seeing differences, trying and practicing, and that’s how
you got a great result with the tool and the play dough.
What It Means
I was fascinated by your
interpretation of the wavy
lines. They really do look like
water, and your idea of
putting the wavy lines on the
“man” was brilliant.
It is always hard for me to
remember that you are just
two years old. Your eyes,
your mind, and your
patience amaze me every
day, and I am so fortunate to
be part of your explorations.
Opportunities and Possibilities
Natalie’s interest and patience provide great opportunities
to work on dexterity and eye-language skills.
I am interested to hear her observations using other new
tools with play dough, paint or shaving cream “painting”.
Continuing to use more
sign language with her, when
reading familiar books or
during eating or play time
will help introduce new
words and perfect what
she already knows.
10
Family’s Response
Natalie’s mom, Julie, says…
I think Natalie is soooo smart.
I think she is wonderfully choosy about when to ask for help, she
doesn't automatically ask for help until she tries something by
herself first and she usually asks for help before she reaches major
frustration or meltdown. I also like that she will ask for help in
Spanish - what she has learned from Dora - and she uses it as if
asking for help in Spanish is how we do it at home!
Natalie really seems to be understanding emotions observed on
others through facial expressions or cries, etc. and is then able to
verbally describe it to me.
I love the kids being part of your projects!