Creation Lesson with Play-Dough Craft

I would love to be the mom who constantly has a steady stream of awe inspiring ideas to teach my children about God.  But the reality is, that I’m bone dry  most of the time, or I’m just too lazy/ tired to even think about it. This spring, however, I’ve been teaching a 4-6 year old class at church on Wednesday evenings.  And it’s changed everything!

Each week we talk about a new topic, and do a craft.  It’s simple and fun, and I’m not sure why by just recently it occurred to me that when a I teach my class on Wednesday night, I should make Thursday mornings a time with a simple toddler version of the same lesson.  I’ve already got all the materials pulled and prepared, and I’ve already had at least one good practice, so why not?

The past two weeks we’ve been discussing Adam and Eve, and specifically this week, we discussed God’s creation and HOW he created all things along with Adam and Eve.  I reinforced the lesson having the kids make their own play dough and letting them create animals or people out of it.  It’s been fun.

Here is the really scaled down version of my lesson for toddlers.

Creation Lesson with Homemade Play Dough

Materials Needed:

• The Jesus Story Book Bible: The Beginning, A Perfect Home (If you don’t have this bible, here is a link to the script)
• 1 cup flour (doesn’t matter what kind)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• Optional: food coloring and/ or flavor extracts (I had vanilla, almond and strawberry flavoring lying around)
• Large bowl(s) or plate(s) for mixing (I used one for each kid)

Lesson:

• Begin by asking children to name things that God has created or made. Allow them to name several things.  But finish with, “How did God create all those things?”
• Read story of creation from Story Book Bible, and ask them to listen out for HOW God created all things.  Was it his hands?  Words? Legos?
• Once you finish have children go back and answer HOW God created all things…
  • He spoke it all into existence… He used only his words!
• Ask children if God spoke man into existence or if he did something different? The Storybook bible doesn’t go into detail here so be prepared to remind the children of what the Bible says:
  • Genesis 2:7 –“then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
  • Genesis 2:22– “And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”
• Ask children: “Can you do that?  Can you breath life into something? Can you speak something into existence? Me either.  What an amazing thing God did, and what a powerful God we worship!”
• Now that they’ve learned a little about how God created the world and people, tell them that now they will do some creating of their own.
• Give out play dough materials and show them how to create it.  If you have the materials create one together as a group, and then let them make their own.  This helps the kids that are nervous about getting sticky and gross… like my three year old.
• Once you have your play-dough made, ask the children to try to make some animals they’ve seen around or even a brand new animal.  And if they have time, have them create a play dough person!

Directions for Play-Dough making:

Instructions

1. Mix together the flour and the salt.
2. Mix together ½ cup of warm water with a few drops of food coloring and a scent if you’d like one.
3. Slowly pour the water into the flour mixture, stirring as you pour. Stir until combined, then knead with your hands until the flour is completely absorbed. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour until it doesn’t stick at all.

I’m not really sure why my 2 year old had to have her play-dough person resting in her arm instead of in her hands, but… it’s still in the picture, so it works, right?

When I did this with my toddlers, I didn’t get to read the story like I wanted to, so we looked at the pictures on each page and retold the story together.  This kept them engaged a little longer.

All together we took about 20 minutes to do the story and make the play dough… minus a tantrum in there because of sticky hands… but I was really fun.  This play dough recipe is super simple and lasts for a while.  If you keep it in an air tight container, I’ve read it can last up to a few months, so enjoy!

I hope your family enjoys this as much as we did!… again, minus the tantrum.

Title Photo Credit: Here

Other posts you may like:

Pre-K Lesson:Trusting God is Like Making Butter

How to make Easy Readers

Ideas Games and Activities to Learn the ABCs

Katie Short

Hi, I’m Katie. I am new at this stay-at-home-mom thing, and I live in the deep HOT south. My days can be long and tiring at times, but I want to bring glory to God daily by loving my closest neighbors… my family. It is a calling, and I count it all joy. My days are spent playing outside with my son, sitting in a rocking chair with my “sweet potato” of a baby girl, and cooking yummy gut-healing food for my hubby. I am so excited to have the opportunity to write blog posts for AGoodTired and I hope you will find as much laughter and encouragement here as I have.