Play-Doh Brain Instructions

 1. Here are your reference tools: (1)brain packet, (2) Weiten pg. 92), (3) Myers pg. 65.

Prepare your Cerebrum – make two large, flat pancake-like structures, at least as big as your hand with extended fingers. Then, wrinkle it down to resemble the furrows of the cerebrum. You must make an indentation where the lateral fissure runs (the “thumb” of the “boxing glove” or “mitten” – think state of Michigan). Set aside the two hemispheres of the cerebrum. Note: The outer ¼” of the cerebrum is the cerebral cortex, the center of intellectual (higher) thought.

Prepare the Brainstem with Thalamus “bulb” –  Make a slightly lopsided “chicken leg” or “brontosaurus head and neck.”  Then make a Medulla Oblongata in the shape of a small football (about 1.5” long). The Medulla should be a different color from your brainstem/thalamus bulb.  After that, make the RAS (Reticular Activating System) – aka Reticular Formation - from yet another different color – about ½ diameter of medulla and about 1” long.

Prepare the Brainstem with Thalamus “bulb” – ctd.  Make a furrow (or “canoe”) in the medulla and insert the RAS. Close it up by folding over the playdoh and re-shaping.  Then make another furrow (or “canoe”) in the brain stem and enclose the medulla/RAS. Again, fold over playdoh and re-shape.  Then make a thalamus (ball about 1” diameter) and hypothalamus (pea-sized) from two different colors and enclose them in the thalamus bulb, with the thalamus on top and slightly behind (i.e., hypothalamus should be in front of thalamus and below = “hypo”).

 Prepare the Pons – Make a 5-6” thin snake from a different color than the brainstem and flatten it out. Wrap it around the back of the brainstem (like a scarf), just below the thalamus bulb and pinch it together in the front (creating a waddle or turkey “gobbler”).

 Prepare the Cerebellum – Make 2 small balls (each slightly smaller than thalamus) from a color different than the brainstem or pons. Flatten into a yo-yo shape and make gyri and sulci (ridges and valleys). Attach on the back of the pons.

 7. Prepare the Optic Chiasm – Take 2 small pieces and roll into 1” long snakes/worms. Make an “X” with these snakes/worms. Connect to the brainstem/thalamus bulb right above the pons on the front (rostral) side.

Prepare the Hippocampus and Amygdala –  Make a 6” snake, ¼ - ½” in diameter. Looking from the back of your brain, place the middle of the snake in the back middle of the thalamus (creating a “U” just above the cerebellum) and curl the ends of the snake around the sides of the thalamus bulb, creating 2 structures in the shape of ram’s horns.  Place a small (pea-sized) lump at the tip of each horn for the amygdalae (almond- shaped structures on the tips of hippocampus).

 Prepare the Pituitary and Pineal Glands – Make 2 small balls, 1 twice the size of the other. Pituitary is the larger of these structures (pinto bean shape). Pineal gland is smaller, about the size of a pea. These structures will be attached later.

 Prepare the Corpus Callosum – Make a crescent moon shape, about twice as long as the thalamus bulb from front to back. The corpus callosum will be attached in the next step.

Final assembly –  Lay out one hemisphere of the cerebrum (set aside in step 3) with the ridges down. Carefully place the completed brainstem and midbrain structures on it, with the cerebellum sticking out the back and the pons out the front.  Position the corpus callosum above the hippocampus and thalamus bulb, leaving space between for the ventricles.

Final Assembly, Ctd.  Place the pituitary in front of the optic chiasm.  Place the pineal in back, above the cerebellum.  Finally place the other hemisphere of the cerebrum over the top (smooth side down) and seal around the edges, molding into the shape of a brain. The second hemisphere needs to “mirror” the first.