What to watch: True: Tricky Treat Day
Where to find it: Netflix
Run time: 23 minutes
Best for ages: 3 and up
Why We Recommend True and the Rainbow Kingdom
True and the Rainbow Kingdom is a Netflix series that premiered in 2017. It is centered around True, a girl who helps her friends by solving problems with wishes from the magical Wishing Tree. In their Halloween special, True: Tricky Treat Day, some of True's fellow Rainbow Citizens become Howling Greenies after eating the ill-fated tricky treats. True comes to learn that they can be saved by eating a good treat, but if any of her friends are Howling Greenies when the moon is full, they will stay that way forever. In each episode, when True is faced with a problem, she goes to the Wishing Tree where she starts by verbalizing the problem to Zee, the wishologist. Next, they all take a deep breath. Then, True describes what needs to happen for the problem to be resolved. Finally, the Wishing Tree grants True three wishes that will help her solve the problem. While our kids will never get magical problem-solving tools from a wishing tree, the show does a great job of demonstrating regulating emotions and problem-solving skills. Your kids will love the series for its bright colors and talking animal characters and this particular Halloween special is a non-scary option for kids who are more easily spooked.
Playdough Tricky Treats Sensory Play Activity
'Tis the season for candy! Playdough is a great sensory play activity that taps into the creative part of the brain. After watching the True: Tricky Treat Day, we had candy on the brain. We decided to create our own play candy with playdough.
Warning: we do not recommend this activity for kids that are still in the oral discovery phase. Make sure your child knows that playdough is just for pretend play, not eating.
Everly and I made some DIY playdough but if you are short on time or ingredients you can have just as much fun with the store-bought option. There are a lot of simple recipes out there but since I just used her screen time to do the dishes, I was not eager to scrub another pot. So, we went with the no-cook option below.
Lesson
As we were making and playing with the playdough, I engaged Everly in a conversation about the show. By asking her the questions below, I hoped to reinforce the positive themes and help her realize how these apply to her life. Remember it is okay to help your children process their answers, as well as give your own opinions so that is it more of a discussion. I asked her:
What was the problem that True was dealing with in the show?
When her friends started turning into Howling Greenies, did True get upset or did she stay calm?
Do you think it is easier to solve a problem when you are upset or calm?
Next time you have a problem, what are two ways you might be able to stay calm?
Who did True go to for help solving the problem?
Who is someone you can go to when you need help solving a problem?
DIY Playdough Recipe
Estimated time: 10 minutes + (this is the minimum time needed to make the dough but the play time is up to you)
Materials needed:
Unscented lotion
Cornstarch
Food coloring
The ratio you need is one part lotion and two parts cornstarch. I recommend 1/4 cup lotion and 1/2 cup cornstarch for each color you want to make.
Step 1: Stir together the food coloring and the lotion. (Be sure to make it darker than your desired color as it will lighten considerably once you add the cornstarch.)
Step 2: Add the cornstarch and stir until it gets crumbly.
Step 3: Move the crumbly mixture to a flat surface and knead it. (I did not have any issue with the color staining my hands but you might want to wear gloves if this is a concern.)
This step presented another opportunity to reinforce our lesson on staying calm when we encounter problems. As I was kneading, I found that the dough was too crumbly for play. Everly and I discussed how this would make it difficult to mold treats. We talked about our options for solving this problem. Do we throw it away and start over? Do we try a different recipe? I advised her to try adding more lotion to the dough and kneading it in. After this worked, I pointed out how easily we were able to solve the problem when we stayed calm and worked together.
Repeat these steps for as many colors as you want to make. Everly chose pink, green, and purple.
After making some tricky treats and pretending to turn into Howling Greenies, Everly decided to make a whole assortment of candies which is always a great opportunity to talk about shapes.
Jeanette's Educational Insights:
A key factor to student success in reading is early language development. One of the primary ways to support your child's language development is through conversation. The True: Tricky Treat Day show and activity sets up a wonderful opportunity for you and your child to have an ongoing conversation, while making and creating with playdough. Don't be hesitant to use "rich" language with your child. This will help your child develop a wealth of vocabulary. An enriched vocabulary will be essential when your child begins to decode words when reading. A child can have good decoding skills, but if they don't know what the word means, their reading skills will be impaired. So chat, chat away with your little ones and fill them with wonderful words.
A plus to playing with playdough is the development of fine motor muscles. Squeezing and molding the playdough builds the muscles in their hands which will help them hold and manipulate a pencil. As they get a bit older use clay which will develop the hand muscles further.
Children learn through all their senses. Making and playing with playdough allows your child to feel texture. Feeling the texture helped Everly and Andrea discover they needed to add more lotion to the formula. Building 3D models of what your child is imagining helps your child feel the placements of each part and have a better understanding of spatial awareness.