Playdough and Tell

This is my favorite back-to-school getting-to-know-you activity.  It is creative and active.  It is detailed or abstract.  It is a positive experience for the quiet students and the talkative ones.  It is great for 4th graders because it is WHATEVER they want it to be!

Each table received a box of clay sticks (I get whatever Dollar Tree has in stock.  Sometimes they have 4 packs of Playdough, but this year it was 12 stick pack of clay). Students use the clay to create something that shows us about themselves.  It can be a specific item, like a football, or it can be a symbol that represents something, like a heart.  Then they create a display by writing a description on an index card.  They have a choice to write their names on the front or back of the card. I leave these displays out until Curriculum Night so parents can see them.

*I did not create this activity.  I read about it somewhere or saw it at a training, but after 26 years I cannot remember the exact person or I would give him/her credit.