Activities -
General
Kneading
Bread Dough
Kneading
bread dough is an activity which children love to do over and over. It is
very calming for them and is a great fine motor activity. You may want to
prepare the dough ahead of time so that it has had time to rise.
Ask
the children to wash their hands and then come to a table which is set up
with bread boards. Sprinkle flour (or snow drops, fairy dust, whatever you
want to call it) generously and then break off a small ball of dough for
them. You may need to show them how to knead it at first and yes they will
try to eat it! Let them play with their dough for quite a while. When they
are ready roll it into a shape together and place it on a greased baking
tray for cooking. They may want to make a few different bread rolls. Once
all the rolls are finished let them prove for a while. On top off the
preheating oven is often a good place. Once the rolls have almost doubled
in size, bake them for approx 20 minutes in a preheated 200 degrees Celsius
oven.
Then
comes the best part, EAT THEM!!
If
you have a bread machine use the easy option and prepare your dough using
the dough only cycle. If not then the following recipe is quick to throw
together.
Recipe
for white bread dough:
450
grams (3 1/4 cups) of plain flour
1
teaspoon salt
2
tablespoons dry milk powder
1
tablespoon butter or oil
1
tablespoon sugar
2
tablespoons gluten flour or 1 Tbsp bread improver (not absolutely
necessary)
330ml
water
1
1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
Place
all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix them well to form a large
ball of dough.
Knead
lightly then cover and let the dough sit in a warm place for at least two
hours.
Over
time experiment with different types of bread mixes and you may want to
let your children use rolling pins and utensils after they have finished
kneading.
The
children at our playgroup do this activity every week and they still
approach it with great enthusiasm every time.
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