happy national play ‘doh day

Growing up, I would alternately bug my mom for a  puppy and to play with play ‘doh every few weeks.  I just loved rolling it out, smushing it, making it end up as one big blog of marbleized achievement.  Plus, I had the play ‘doh hair cut set that just was the coolest toy ever- making those weird plastic people grow weird tube-like hair just felt like playing god.   So, of course I’m a huge fan of play ‘doh.  And guess what I’m also a huge fan of? Making stuff myself.  So, on this wonderous National Play ‘Doh day, whip up your own batch.  Sharing with your kids is optional. 

For the last few years I have been making play ‘doh on the stove, kneading hot dough and getting coated in food color.  It was as yucky as all that sounds.  While the “baked on the stove” method works and is great, the kool-aid recipe keeps my paws safe, smells really great and is what I like to think of as the lazy girl’s way to make play ‘doh.  If you are sold on the stove top way, the video below shows you the stages the dough will go through until it is ready to come off the heat.  Try both and see which you like best and let me know in the comments!  All types must be sealed after use or they will get dry and crumbly. 

Since it is National Play ‘Doh Day, did you know play ‘doh started its life as wall-paper cleaner?  After we moved away from really dirty heating methods like coal to gas and electricity walls were staying cleaner.  It was not a good time for companies that made wall paper cleaning goo.  A certain wall-paper cleaning goo company’s owner listened to his sister-in-law, who was a nursery school teacher and was into using it like clay in her classroom.  She suggested a re-brand and the rest is history.  Just goes to show, you really can make anything out of play ‘doh, even a million dollar business out of a struggling wall paper cleaning goo company.