12th October 2022
5 Tools Every Early Years Teacher needs for Dough Disco Progression
Dough Disco is progressive; I prefer the word developmental but ‘progressive’ activities need to be seen in the classroom. So here are five tools for Dough Disco that you can use to show how it is progressive in your classroom.
- Start at the beginning and know the science.
- Plan out the progress of your Dough Disco sessions termly (download Spread the Happiness Dough Disco Term Tracker)
- Use Draw a Person to show the need for Dough Disco and the progress.
- Do Dough Disco daily using books, YouTube or classroom videos in our School of Spread The Happiness (Click here)
- Get accredited as a Dough Disco teacher so you know the science, progression and reasons why it is the best exercise for fine motor control. This way you will always be able to answer ‘why, how, when…’ and no one will ever stop the Dough Disco fine muscle exercise on your watch.
First start at the beginning and know the science.
Why do we need to exercise children’s fine motor skills?
For the coordination of hand and eye, finger and fine muscle strength (usually associated with writing in education). Remember fine motor skills help children perform important tasks such as feeding themselves, grasping objects and writing. Having fine motor skills also impacts on self esteem because with stronger fine motor skills the child can be independent.
Second, Plan out the progress of your Dough Disco sessions termly (download Spread the happiness Dough Disco term tracker) simple to do start with nursery rhymes mixed with the ten book 1 moves (book 1 and soon book 2 moves are found in the subscription in our school.spreadthehappiness.co.uk) Then advance to some themed Dough Disco over on Spread the Happiness TV on YouTube.
There are eight Dough Disco books to date with ten moves and I am currently in the process of writing a progressive book with new moves, games and much much more so Dough Disco can continue through school. Our YouTube channel has Dough Disco play lists for beginners, intermediates and advanced with a click on the subscribe button you will never miss a new video release.
To show progress use Draw a Person. This third tool is essential to show the need for Dough Disco and the progress when the exercise is used. Check out our assessment video – click here.
The fourth tool is do Dough Disco daily using books or You Tube (Click here to see our YouTube channel Spread The Happiness TV) or classroom videos in school.spreadthehappiness.co.uk. It is so important to do this exercise daily because it helps fine motor skills so much but also let the children Dough Disco in provision, make non cook play dough, change ingredients and use different things in the dough rather than usual cutters and rollers. There are some great ideas on our YouTube channel or you can think up your own! Let us know on social media some of the fun you have with these ideas.
Finally the fifth tool, support modern children and get accredited as a Dough Disco teacher so you know the science, progression and reasons why it is the best exercise for fine motor control. This way you will always be able to answer ‘why, how, when’ and no one will ever stop the Dough Disco fine muscle exercise on your watch!
You can sign up via the button below, or contact us via email (Click here) to find out what you need to do.
Check out our instagram @spread_the_happiness or Spread the happiness Facebook page for more Dough Disco, Squiggle and Early Years ideas and the reasons as to why we use them and the science behind it.
