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December 21,1984
Play clay gives lesson plan a hand
Grade school teachers often pure baking soda (1 1 lb. pack
face the problem of keeping the age); 1 cup cornstarch; 1 % cups
same subjects fresh year after cold water.
year. With all the instant grati
1. Mix dry ingredients in a
fication supplied by television saucepan and add water. Stir
and video games, it’s often dif constantly while cooking over
ficult to keep the children inter medium heat. When the mix
ested.
ture is the consistency of wet
For your next, lesson plan, mashed potatoes, turn out on a
why not involve the whole class plate and cover with a dam p
in a project that emphasizes cloth.
imagination, teamwork and the
2. When thé Play Clay is cool,
tactile experience? Flay Clay is pat smooth. Store unused por
one way to encourage students tions in ah airtight plactic bag
to create something with their or container. This makes about
hands. I t’s an easy to prepare, two cups of Play Clay.
non-toxic clay medium that goes
Children can mold Play Clay
easy on the classroom budget, in their hands, or roll it out to Î4
and you can use it for a variety inch and use çardboàrd shapes
of subjects. Here is the basic as a cutting guide.
recipe: 2 cups Arm and Hammer
Design should dry overnight.
•
Or, you can shorten the drying around, have the youngsters
time by heating objects in a pre create a timeline for American
heated 350 F oven for 15 min Independence, desigingthe key
utes. If not fully dry, continue. events in the American Revolu
to dry in five minute increments. tion, from the Boston Tea Party
1 After they have hardened, to the Inauguration of George
creations can be decorated eas- Washington.
ily by painting them with water
Looking for a new twist on
colors, poster paints, nail polish a n oldarithm atic aid? Have the
or colored felt tip pens. ; Coat students build their own abacus
the figure with clear varnish or with Play Clay beads and use jt
nail polish and they will last for to demonstrate the fundamen
years.
tals of math.
Once Play Clay is prepared,
Think of what you and the
you can incorporate it into any students cán do if you pat your
number of lesson plans:
heads together! And you will
* For science projects, students help promote classroom spirit
can build volcanoes, peninsu b y encouraging all the work
las, and a variety of geographi towards a common goal.
cal formations.
Play Cfey is fun for people of
♦When
— - — history period rolls all ages.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
EXTENSION
Clay Penhollow
Mollie Driscoll
r \
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f
O /A 7 S 6 it 9
are not yet valid representations
of real things. If an attractive
TV comic character suggests a
certain product is good-to eat,
or exciting to play with, that is
good enough for the preschooler.
Young children are persuaded
by the fantasy of ad vertisements,
by the cplor, shape and attrac-
tive packaging of products. They
will willingly accept anything
and everything. These views are
often based on Piaget’s descrip-
tion of the preschool child as a
pre-school as a pre-conceptual
thinker. While providing child
ren with experiences in the mar
ketplace is to be encouraged,
this view holds that these merely
voyages of exploration and that
little gain can be expected from
teaching children consumercon-*
cepts and skills during the early
years.
An alternative view states (hat
structured learning experiences
can help the young child to
understand relatively simple con-
sumer concepts. From my work
with young children, I have
come to believe that it is impor-
taut to introduce concepts in
carefuly structured sequences.
The young child can learn new
concepts as long as they are
illustrated by many concrete
examples, reintroduced on dif-
ferent occasions and in different
situations, and the child is given
time to practice them. Struc-
tpred sequences çan also be
used to apply the concepts in
practical Situations.
HoW can we teach consumer
econom ic concepts to young
children?
The method that I have used
successfully with preschoolers
is a two-stage process. (1) Di
rectly teach a number of related
general concepts associated with
basic ideas drawn from a real-
life marketplace situation (e,g.,
store money, products, choice).
(2) Follow this initial learning
with activities which provide
C 9
For a lot of people, Christ
mas. wouldn’t be complete with-:
b ut including a poinsetta in the
holiday decorations. Poinsettias
are available at many retail out
lets in early December. Select
other examples of the basic ideas, ing the best plant possible helps
and which invite children to insure that the poinsettia will
apply these ideas in solving simple provide many weeks of holiday
problems. These general• ideas enjoyment.
are the “building blocks of pre
Poinsettias come in colors
school consumer education.”
ranging from white to pink to
The important characteristics red, and combinations of these
of the “building blocks” are: 1. colors.
They provide a fundamental,
The colored part of the plant
simplified picture of how the is not the flower. The actual
marketplace operates. 2. They flower is- a small round pea
ate organized so as to be under shaped structure located in the
standable to preschool children; center of the colored leaves or
3. They provide a necessary bracts.
foundation for future learning.
Plants that do not have the
| The sequence of instruction flower are either past their prime
helps children learn and organ or have experienced some type
ize concepts in a meaningful of shock that caused the flowers
fashion.
to drop.
,,t Organize from general to part-
Besides having the flowers
icular allows us to highlight and still on the plant, a desirable
teach related basic concepts, to plant should have leaves all the
demonstrate their relationships way to the surface of the pot
to teach basic information pro and bracts that are well-formed
cessing skills. Such organization and completely colored.
helps preschoolers to focus on
Protect the poinsettia frpm
important characteristics of con
cepts (e.g., store) and skills (e.g.,
Choosing) at a time when they
atevery naive in this respect.
What part can parents play in
helping their preschool children
learn cohsum'er economics-con
For the “cookie monster” oft
cepts?
your list, r.fill a glass cookie j a r '
Building blocks or preschool consumer education
(Can young children, as early
as the preschool years, begin to
learn and understand consumer
economics concepts?
Recently there has been an
increasing interest in the con
sumer socialization of young
children. It has been suggested,
for example, that public policy
should be aimed at protecting
the young child from TV adver-
tising, because the child has no
awareness, understanding or dis
trust of television advertising.
At the same time, a plea has
been made that mòre should be
done to prepare the child for
effective interaction with the
marketplace. How we respond
to statements of “protect or
prepare” will depend in some
measure oft Our beliefs o f how
young children learn and deve
lop.
One point of view holds that
preschoolers are not ye^able to
reason adequately, and that the
concept they form of the world:
)
Page 7
T G
extreme changes in temperature
on the way home.
A poinsettia taken from a
warm store into a freezing temp
erature outdoors, and then taken
home in a cool car, may drop its
leaves within just a few days.
After getting the plant home,
place it in an area where it w ill;
receive maximum light and won’t
be exposed to drafts.
Water only when the surface
qf- the soil appears dry and then
thoroughly enough that the wa
ter will drain out the bottom of
the pot. Discard excess-water as
soon as the pot has finished
draining. To maintain leaf color,
fertilizer can be added to the
water at every other watering.
The change of environment
from the greenhouse to the store
to home will often cause bract
color to lighten and the leaves
and bracts to drop. This is called
epinasty and is a normal reaction.
P lants exhibiting extrem e
epinasty in the store should
probably be avoided. After the
plants have become adapted to
the home, they will recover to a
certain extent.
“Cookie monster” gifts
“S P arents share with their pre-
S&hool children m any and var
ied marketplace experiences such
as watching TV together and
going shopping. Each time the
child is allowed to buy a pro
duct there is an opportunity for
parents to help in the, pros and
cons of choice and cost (can the
product be afforded), and in the
buying procedure which involves
a money transaction. If parents
are aware of the method of
instruction used in school they
can become very much a part of
that learning process. Of course,
it isim portantfor the teacher to
Spilyay Tymoo photo by Leno-Baker
Suggestions and examples were on display at the Ho-Ho-Ho-Homemade workshop held earlier this inform parents of the teaching
month at the 4-H center. The gifts shown were all that could be made at home by children as well as methods used, and to suggest
whys in which parents can use a
adults.
similar approach with 1 heir chil
dren in more informal way.
Kids and car sponsibility
safety
on the playground
During the holidays, children
spend a lot of timé in the car,
going shopping or visiting rela
tives. And hopefully each kid
will be sitting in an approved
;a r restraint system.
M ost people worry about
diseases of childhood, without
realizing that autqftiobile acci
dents are the num ber one killer
of children. Parents are respon
sible for protecting children at
all times and we take this re-
and in a variety of places, but
very often we neglect to do it in
the automobile. Ope of the rules
that we always advocate is that
the car does not move until
everyone’s restrained.
A year-old Oregon law re
quires motorists to provide res
traint systems for all children
under age five who weigh less
than forty pounds—a sensible
and safe idea.
Making perfect ham
Bake a fully cooked or canned
ham, following package direc-
tions for temperature and tim-
ing. A bout 30 to 45 minutes
before end of cooking, remove
ham from oven. Arrange Orange
Peel Poinsettia Garnish on ham;
secure with toothpick halves,
Brush With or spoon on Yule-
tide Orange Glaze. Continue
baking 30 to 45 minutes longer;
brush occasionally with re
maining glaze. Remove tooth
picks before serving. Poinsettia
garnish will cling to ham.
Orange peel poinsetta garnish
Score peel o f one large sun-
kist navel orange lengthwise into
quarters; remove peel with fin
gers. W ith kitchen shears oi
paring knife, cut each q u art«
peel into two petal shapes. Front
one quarter, also cut one length-
wise strip for stem: Use five tc
six petals for flower and twe
and three for leaves. After ar-
ranging and securing flower on
ham, attach a maraschino dr
candied cherry half with tooth
. pick for center of flower
, ,
Oranges, lemons for gift-giving
Fresh navel oranges, lemons,
grapefruit, and tangerines make
perfect gifts, either presented by
themselves or combined with
other items found in the house
hold section of your local super
market. These special homemade
gifts and decorations are prac
tical as well as edib le.. and help
to make the holiday season more
memorable.
Fresh citrus fruits, with their
bold colors^ lend themselves to
festive holiday centerpieces. Fill
any attractive basket with an
assortment of navel oranges,
lemons, tangerines, and grape
fruit. Tuck in some Christmas
greenery and a few wire-stemmed
green, ball-shaped ornaments.
Tie on a colorful ribbon and
enjoy the compliments. If you
prefer, wrap the basket of fruit
in cellophane, top it with a
bow, and give it as a gift.
Herbs good for indoor gardening
Indoor gardeners with a flair
for the unusual may want to try
raising a herb garden this win
ter. A sunny window still can
easily be transformed into a
herbal mini-garden.
Basil, chevil, savory and thyme
can be grown in small flower
pots or a window box, and
snipped as needed to add the
finishing touch to a sauce, soup
or salad.
Basil can be planted from
seed and will germinate in about
12 days, Cheyil germinate from
seed in 12 to 14 days, Other
herbs, such as thyme, are best
started from an already grow
On lightly floured bread, roil
dough about %-mch thick; cut
with fresh oranges and lemons. with floured c o o kie cutte r . Place
T op.the ja r with a wide decora on lightly greased cookie sheets.
tive ribbon and some holly leaves Bake at 375 F. fo r eight to ten
with berries. And if you like,
attach a few holiday-shaped
cookie cutters, such as bells,
stars, and gingerbread men, with
an attractive ribbon. Include
the recipe for these easy rolled
cookies. Fresh grated orange
peel and juice transform ah ordi
nary package of gingerbread
mix into tasty and delightful
gingerbread men cookies.
Orange Gingerbread Men
1 package (about 14 ounces)
gingerbread mix
Grated peel of one sunkist orange
% cup fresh squeezed orange
juice
Ift a large bowl, combine all
ingredients well. Knead dough
lightly to thoroughly blend in
gingerbread mix. Chill one hour.
minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Decorate as desired. Makes eight
to ten large (six-inch) ginger
bread men,
Christmas just wouldn’t be
Christmas without a red and
white stocking filled to the brim“
with nuts, small toys, candy;
cahs, and fresh western-grown
navel oranges. Although how
more readily available than in
the early 1900s when the first
limited shipments were made
from California to eastern mar
kets, the navel orange is still,
considered a special holiday
treat. A couple of tangerines
add a nice surprise. Holly gives
a finishing touch to this gift for
children.. .or those on your list,
who are “young at heart.”
ing plant, and chives should be
started from a clump of bulbs.
Sage, lemon balm and rose
mary can be grown from stem
cuttings. Take the latest growth
dr the upper part of older stems;
Cut them into three or four sec
tions, making sure each section
contains leaves or leaf buds
hear the upper end. Insert one-
half to two-thirds of their length
into a box or bowl filled with
four or five inches of clean
moist sand.
' Roots should develop in two
weeks, and within four to six
weeks the cuttings should be
ready to pot.
Citrus decorations, gifts
In saucepan, combine water,
Here’s a gift with a lot of
punch! Fill a large glass pitcher sugar and spices. Bring to boil;
with brightly colored fresh le simmer ten minutes. Add juices;
mons. Tie a bow of red and heat. Makes about four cups.
white striped ribbon around the
handle and attach two artificial
poinsettia flowers. Secure a re
cipe, card for Hot Spiced Le-
mon-Appleade dr your favorite Yuletide orange glaze
hot lemon punch. This gift is
sure to warm up the hearts of Grated peel of one fresh orange
those who receive it.
cup fresh squeezed orange
juice
Hot-spiced Lemon-Appleade
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
% cup light corn syrup
2 cups water
% tsp. ground cinnamon
1 / 3 cup sugar.
% tsp. ground nutmeg
% tsp. ground cinnamon
% tsp. ground nutmeg
In small saucepan ■ combine
Spilyay Tymoo photo by Leno-Baker
% tsp. ground allspice
all ingredients. Bring to boil; Getting into the holiday spirit o f gift giving, Jake Coochise adds
2 cups apple juice or cider
reduce heat. Simmer ten min spices to the recipe fo r a holiday bread. Jake is a member of the
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon utes, stirring occasionally. Makes 4-H cooking club.
juice
3A cup.
Gift idea
I