Sunday, August 26, 2012

Playdough Culturally Insensitive???

Has the world gone completely MAD?
Playdough is one of the best educational tools, but some NZ early childhood centres are being warned to think first before using it.
The warning comes from...wait for it!...you guessed it!...maori educators, who say it is culturally insensitive! They question whether playdough, potato prints and macaroni necklaces should be used when some families can't afford to put food on the table.
Meg Moss of Minimarc Childcare Centre says playdough is a great learning tool for young kids: "I haven't found anything that quite replaces it for helping children develop manipulative skills and it's fairly economical compared with commercial products. It's much easier for very small children to use, much easier than clay."
But Judith Nowotarski of the NZ Educational Institute says playdough is a waste of perfectly good flour that could be made into bread: "I don't think any culture intentionally goes in and says it's ok to play with food or with ingredients. I don't think anybody does that in this day and age. We've got to think about sustainability." Yes. Honestly! That's what she said!
Oy! You kids! Stop having fun NOW!
She even claims some some maori childhood centres have stopped using food, including playdough, as a play tool because it's culturally insensitive and a waste: "We removed things like pasta and so on for threading and baking for that reason. There are families out there who struggle."
The rest of the world finds playdough great for kids, but maori find it culturally insensitive. This is despite the fact that it's been used by kiwi kids for decades. All of a sudden it is *shock-horror-probe* non-PC!!! And the tragedy is: this is not a joke - these clowns are serious!
So who are these so-called "maori educators"? (let them boldly step forth for all to ridicule). Why do they want to spoil children's fun? Just how big are the broomsticks up their bums? Next they'll be saying others' kids aren't allowed to wear shoes because some maori can't afford to buy any for theirs...!
If you want to make playdough for your kids, and have them grow up with a well-rounded view of life without any PC bullshit, here's [the recipe]...

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