Start the first day of school with magic play dough for your students. Your students will enjoy using the play dough as an arrival activity on the first day of school. They will be amazed by the magical secret!
Start the first day of school by giving each child a ball of magic play dough. This play dough looks like regular (uncolored) play dough, but hidden in the center is a bit of food coloring. As your students start to play with the dough, it will start to change color – like magic!
Making the Magic Play Dough
To make magic play dough, use your favorite play dough recipe (my favorite is in this blog post – or in my store). Just don’t add food coloring yet. To make enough for 20-25 students, I usually make 2-3 batches of play dough.
Once the play dough cools, make small balls of dough for each child (about 2 inches per ball). Poke a little hole with your finger (or a popsicle stick). Add 3-4 drops of food coloring into the hole.
Push the dough back together to seal the hole shut, so you can’t see the color. Then store each ball in its own plastic bag.
As your students arrive on the first day, let them play with the play dough at their table spots. As they play, it will magically change color!
(Note: If your students are wearing “fancy” first day of school clothes, you might have them wear an art shirt. Because the coloring is in the dough, it’s not too likely to end up on clothes. However, staining new clothes may not sit well with parents.)
Giving students play dough as they arrive keeps them engaged as you help those who need help with morning tasks or separating from parents. It’s also something students typically feel comfortable doing independently, and may even encourage small conversations between new friends.
Students can keep the play dough for the first week or two of school and play with it each morning, once their morning tasks are finished. This is a great introduction to having a soft start to the school day.
While your students are playing with the play dough, take a minute to take first day photos of each of them. It’s easier to do while they are all occupied.
These first day photos are the perfect foundation to a memory book of the school year. Add their photo to a page with a self-portrait and repeat at the end of the year. Parents (and you) will love to see the changes!
You can grab self-portrait pages here. I include a page for every month of the year to show how students name writing and drawing skills change throughout the year. The pages are perfect to show at parent-teacher conferences, too.
Final tips for the first day of school. Whatever you do, get a good night’s sleep and remember to smile! It’s going to be a great day!
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This is a fabulous idea! How many 2 inch balls does your recipe make?
I think I typically do a double batch to make enough for a class of roughly 22 kids. Have fun!