Children make and share food made from play dough.
Have the children cut out the play dough pizzas and sandwiches. They will divide them equally to match the paper signs.
That’s a great cut! Now, separate the circle from the rest of the play dough.
Materials
- 1 canister of play dough for each child
- Plastic knives
- Round and square plastic cookie cutters, approximately 3 inches wide, or small plastic containers (round and square) with a stiff rim. The play dough container is perfect!
- Kitchen Crew templates (PDF)
- Cardstock or plain paper
- Scissors
- Optional: small paper plates
Preparation
- Print (on cardstock if possible) and cut out the Kitchen Crew templates. Laminate, if desired.
- Place all of the materials on the table.
Directions
- Tell the children that they will make play dough pizzas and sandwiches, and then cut them into equal shares to match the paper ones. Show the children the templates and point out that some have only a few pieces (2) and some have many (12). Also point out that all the pieces on the template are the same size.
- Give each child a canister of play dough. Show them how to flatten the dough until it is about a quarter inch or half inch thick. Then show them how to use the cookie cutters to make “pizza” circles and “sandwich” squares. Encourage the children to press the cutters hard enough to cut all the way through the play dough.
- Once everyone has at least one shape cut out, tell the children that they will now cut the sandwiches and pizzas into equal pieces and share them. Have them choose a template and try to cut their play dough into the same number of equal-sized pieces. If the children do not know how to cut the circles or squares into equal slices, use your own play dough and demonstrate how to mark the template lines on the dough and then cut.
- Ask the children how they can tell if the pieces are the same size. If they are not sure, suggest that they place the cut sandwich squares or pizza slices on top of each other. Ask, What can you do if the pieces are not equal sizes?
- Once the children have cut up their pizzas or sandwiches, have them share the pieces equally, on paper plates. Ask how they know the pieces have been shared equally. If needed, guide them to count each share. Help them think about how to redistribute the pieces if they are not shared equally. Which plate has more? Fewer? What can you do to make them equal?
- Repeat this process with new play dough pizzas, sandwiches, and templates.