The Importance of Playdoh

Tuesday, April 06, 2010 Aimee Larsen 8 Comments

Sometimes, we are scared to give our little ones playdoh. What if they eat it? What if they get it in the carpet? What about cleaning it up? Playdough is very important for your child. It just takes some supervision on your part but if you're like me, you just let'em have at it and then clean up the mess as long as they sit in their seats at the table.


The mess isn't bad as long as you make a rule that it stay on the kitchen table or any hard surface you prefer for easy clean up. I do them outdoors...

and indoors...

Why is it so important???

It helps your child develop those little muscles in his fingers and hands. Think about it. There is work involved in using playdoh: pounding, stretching, pulling, squeezing, cutting, etc. When children use playdoh together or with you they are also learning to share. Talking about colors and shapes of playdoh also increases language and you can even talk about the things they make. 

 Below are some tips...
1. Always supervise.
2. Create with them.
3. Provide safe tools.
(cookie cutters, play utensils, rolling pins and plastic scissors)
4. You can protect your surface by purchasing a cheap plastic tablecloth.
5. Provide lotsw of colors, let them mix the colors. Playdoh is cheap!
6. Make your own playdough together. (see below)
This is an edible version! YUMMM!

 
Make Your Own Standard Playdough!
This one is not so edible...
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp veggie oil
Food coloring (wait)
Mix ingredients together (except food coloring) ina saucepan.
Cook over low to medium heat, stir continuously until mixture forms a ball.
Let it cool slightley, knead in the food coloring in your hands.
Store in a airtight container.
Have fun with your kids using playdough!
However, let it go if your child gets sick of it. There will be plenty of chances to play together.
Recipe and some tips from www.chartart.org/playdough.htm


Oh, and take pictures!!!

8 comments:

  1. Fun! I haven't done this much with my son yet, but I have a HUGE thing of it to give him for his b-day!

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  2. My kids love it, but they never clean up after themselves and it gets hard and thrown away.

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  3. My oldest LOVES his!!! He got a ton of it for his birthday this year and no I don't like it but I remember how much fun it was when I was a kid.

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  4. I have an old king-sized bed sheet that stays in our play-doh stash. I spread it on the floor and let them have at it. When they're through, I fold the sheet up on itself and take it outside and give it a shake (way out in the pasture, that is). It's kinda fun to see the colors in the grass too.

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  5. This is awesome! Love the peanut butter recipe! I won't have to worry if it falls on the floor and the dog eats it. LOL Thanks for all the great post!

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  6. Same goes for finger paint, tempera paint, watercolors and colored sand...just about everything is washable :)

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  7. I have a great KoolAide recipe that we love at our house.

    5 cups flour
    1 cup salt
    4 packages of koolaide
    4 c boiling water
    6 tablespoons of oil

    Boil water, take off heat and add oil. Mix flour, salt and koolaide. Pore water and oil over flour picture and stir. Mixture may look a bit dry but don't worry, scoop out dough on a floured surface and knead. At first it may seem like it won't work but keep kneeding and it comes together into a great dough. This is my favorite of any recipe I have tried. I often make half a batch but the kids seem happy when they have lots of dough to play with. They also like that they can pick what color of play dough they want when we buy the koolaide at the store. Hope you like this recipe.

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  8. Thanks for the great recipes. My children love playdough! They play with it all the time. Usually I put an old blanket in the front yard with different shapes and we start making animals and objects. Usually I make something and I ask my son to try to guess what it is. Then he makes something and I try to guess. This way he plays and learns new words too.

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