Play Dough You Know

What kid doesn’t love play dough? It’s totally awesome because first it’s a cool statue of themselves (maybe a bit abstract!) and then it’s a cookie. You can squeeze it, pack it and stretch it; all without it ever breaking. It’s practically indestructible and reusable, something this recycle-maniac loves. A super neat substance in my book. I’m willing to bet your child thinks so as well!

The down side to play-doh? Well, to begin, it costs money. It costs gas to get to the store, brainpower to deal with all those insane people at whatever store you choose and the time it takes you to get your child (and mine is a toddler!) ready to go, properly strapped in to their car seat (I am STRICT about making sure everything is done right and I double check my work, sometimes triple), into the store, back into the car seat… It’s overall, a major PITA. Maybe some of you have this toddler travel down, but I am a frazzled mess and prefer to never leave the house without an accomplice. Even if you order online you have to pay shipping and wait for delivery, and I hate waiting. Reason two, the packaging generates waste. Another reason? We have no idea what is in there. Sure, it’s labeled non-toxic, but what in the crap is in it? Hasbro claims it is primarily made of flour, water and salt. Leaves me wondering about what the secondary ingredients are. Preservatives? Something has got to keep it from going bad in the time it is on the shelf to whenever your kid leaves it to cake into your brand new rug… According to their patent they use a preservative and other other assorted ingredients. Also, they spell dough improperly. That just makes me mad and is a whole other rant about how children should be exposed to proper spelling instead of the common-mistake-branding-atrocities.

Alas, there is an alternative. Make your own! Pinterest led me to Craft Gawker which led me to adelynn STONE the blog where a fantastic DIY play dough recipe is shared with pictures. It looked easy enough and I had all the ingredients (can anyone say free?!) in my kitchen, so I just followed the directions and made some awesome play dough! I used neon food coloring but SafeMama says you can use beet, spinach or carrot juice to add for fun colors. According to adelynn STONE, this dough will last 6 months if stored properly, in an air tight container. I would bet it has a shorter life span if you use the juice for coloring. Don’t let it get too hot, I did and the kneading part ended up being a little painful!! All turned out well anyways though.

I must say my toddler was not too interested. I think he kind of got his feelings hurt when he took a bite and it tasted not so good, he spit it out and wouldn’t touch any more of it. My husband and I had a great time playing with it though! When we were done I stored it in some old tupperware dishes I had and put it up for another try.

Please go HERE for the recipe, it’s pretty simple!