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Hi, I am a new 1st-grade teacher and I am currently giving a lesson about Natural Sources of Water. My initial activity is to have students create their own Natural Sources of Water with Play-doh. I just feel like Play-doh maybe a bit too distracting for them, could there be any other suggestions for a hands-on activity that my students can use to create their own Natural Sources of Water without it being a big distraction? 

Thank you! 

Hello,

I actually love your idea of incorporting play-doh into the lesson. I think that it would be a perfect manipulative to use for this inquiry. The only way that the play-doh would be distracting for the students would be if they are not adequately prepared to use it responsibly. For this I would say that pre-teaching them on how to use play-doh for academic reasons is essential. I also would set up a concequence gradient if a student is unable to use the play-doh as planned. Possibly the student would not be able to use the play-doh anymore and they would have to then make a scale drawing?

Good luck, 

Dani

If they have experience with playdough, then it shouldn't be too distracting.  However, playdough doesn't always work well with water.  Model magic , if your resources allow, might be a better substitute, as would modeling clay.  Clay is always good, but requires a learning curve

Anne