{"id":3518,"date":"2024-12-18T14:24:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T22:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols-redesign-dev\/2024\/12\/18\/experimenting-with-play-doh-for-intro-to-communication\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:35:19","slug":"experimenting-with-play-doh-for-intro-to-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/2024\/12\/18\/experimenting-with-play-doh-for-intro-to-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Experimenting With Play Doh for Intro to Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>The OLS Bellevue College (OLSBC) Intro to Communication course had a fun, hands-on experiment this quarter to learn about the importance of communication. The Bellevue College HR team joined them one day to host a Play Doh Experiment with our students.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-row row\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3673-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16381\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3677-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16382\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>To start, students learned the theory of the importance of teamwork and how collaboration affects projects\u2014both those in college and projects they might be tasked with for work in the future. Students then had to put the theory into practice by collaboratively creating a human from Play Doh, but with some rules:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Each student was tasked with creating a body part with Play Doh, but they had to keep their part secret from everyone else. They were also instructed to not talk to anyone around them while they created it. Little did students know, they were collaboratively creating a human form. Once everyone&#8217;s individual piece was created, they had to put them together. The silliness ensued, as students pieced together a Play Doh human, with a final result that would have made Picasso proud.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-row row\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3679-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16383\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3680-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16384\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3686-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16385\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Students were quick to notice how differently the human could have turned out if they had been communicated to about the plan and each person\u2019s part. &#8220;Well, if I would have known what the end goal would be I would have created my piece differently,\u201d said one student. Another reflected, \u201cI thought I was the only one with that part, so I made it my way, but it\u2019s too different from the other one that was made. It just doesn\u2019t work together.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>For the second-round students were encouraged to talk, collaborate, and work together \u2014and the results were astoundingly different. Students who were tasked with the same body parts teamed up  to make similar sized pieces, but then they started looking around realizing that collaboration with just one other person on such a big project was not enough. They realized they needed to work with the students creating the parts that connected to theirs as well. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-row row\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3684-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16386\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-mayflower-blocks-column col-md\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2025\/05\/IMG_3691-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"OLS students participate in a play doh experiment for intro to communications course\" class=\"wp-image-16387\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>\u201cHow can we all decide the size since they are all too different still?\u201d stated one student. Another student had a solution: \u201cWe need to know what size the head is first.\u201d In agreement they began building together on the main table instead of at their seats. This made all the difference, with comments made along the way like, \u201cThat\u2019s still a bit big. Can you make it smaller?\u201d and \u201cOh, that won\u2019t look right if it\u2019s pointed that way. Let me change it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Students walked away with a relevant, hands-on experience of the importance of collaboration and teamwork.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About OLS Bellevue College<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Occupational &amp; Life Skills Bellevue College<\/a>&nbsp;is an associate degree program for students with learning disabilities. In our uniquely supportive skills-based program, students apply academic knowledge through community activities, service learning and social experiences. Students identify a career pathway, gain marketable, workplace-ready competencies, develop better interpersonal skills and complete an internship in alignment with their career goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block-wrapper alignstandard\">\n<p>Learn more about our program at an upcoming&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/application-process\/information-sessions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Information Session<\/a>, open to all prospective students, family members\/guardians, educators, counselors and other service providers. Come learn why OLS Bellevue College is one of the best colleges for students with learning disabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The OLS Bellevue College (OLSBC) Intro to Communication course had a fun, hands-on experiment this quarter to learn about the importance of communication. The Bellevue College HR team joined them&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ols-news"],"acf":{"summary":"The Bellevue College HR team hosted a Play Doh experiment with OLS students to learn about the importance of communication.","featured_media_type":"image_vertical","featured_image_horizontal":"","featured_image_vertical":3538,"featured_video_url":"","caption":"","author_override":"Maile Allen","contact":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3518"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4971,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518\/revisions\/4971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/ols\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}