Play dough rainbows

Playdough is a terrific learning tool for young children because it is easy to model and builds self-esteem. This simple rainbows game teaches children about colours and is very good for boys who tend to prefer hands-on learning and manipulation to more sedate activities like drawing.

What you need:

• At least five different colours of playdough
• A bread board or flat work surface
• A small butter knife

Number of players:

Activity:

Roll the different coloured play dough into long snakes. Encourage your child to keep the colours separate and not mix them into a big muddy brown lump. (This may prove challenging for some children! But you can help by talking about the different colours in detail to get them interested in each pure separate colour.)

Line the snakes up next to each other and use the butter knife to cut each snake to the same lengh.

Gently press the snakes flat with the heel of your hand and use finger tips to bring each colour together.

Gently curve the flattened snakes until you have the shape of a rainbow.

Notes

• For this activity it may be best to invest in some small store-bought pots of play dough.
• Encourage your child to put a pot of gold at the end: you could model one out of play dough or use a small ring box or ramekin with coins in it. 
• Talk about all the different colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.