I remember as a youngster how much I loved playing with play dough but I can also picture my mother cringing when I hauled it all out. She especially "loved" that Barbershop set, you know the one that squished the dough out of the plastic heads to create a stringy coif. That one did a number on the kitchen and only now can I completely relate to my mother and her reluctance in wanting to spend the afternoon picking all of the remnants up.
Fact is, kids love the stuff and although you can easily spend a good portion of your afternoon scraping the crusty dough off of every square foot of your house you know how much they enjoy it and that's worth it. I normally make Landon's play dough from scratch unless he receives some as gifts or other special occasions and I recently picked up several kits and accessories for pennies at the thrift store.
I keep all of his dough separated by colour in the small plastic baby food jars and allow him to play with only a few at a time. Another item I keep an eye out for at tag sales and second hand stores are small decorative cookie cutters and other safe kitchen tools that would work well with the dough. My son especially loves those plastic scoops that come with the formula cans and I keep all of these little trinkets along with the dough in a tote which can be hauled out on special occasions. This is especially handy when I plan to do some baking in the kitchen and need an hour of uninterrupted time, he uses his mini rolling pin and mimics me baking bread or cutting out cookies
Here are a few recipes that I found especially appealing
This one would be ideal for the baby to play with. He has no allergies to peanut butter as of yet and he could easily participate with Landon while ingesting half of what he plays with...could also take care of lunch.
When I am feeling especially lazy I may try this recipe for crock pot play dough
This is the recipe for the old fashioned regular play dough. Tip for next time: Add food colouring in the beginning. I did as directed and I could still be kneading today 4 months later and would still have a marbled effect. I am also going to try adding some glitter to help make even more mess, it might as well be sparkly.
When I haul his dough making supplies out I cover the table with his reusable table cloth and simply shake it outside once he is done. The stuff is timeless and will entertain a child for hours on end all the while being frugal.
For more tips visit Biblical Womanhood