National Play-Doh Day
Did you know that the substance we now call Play-Doh was originally meant to clean wallpaper? A kindergarten teacher complained that the modeling clay she used in her classroom was too hard for the children's small hands to manipulate. Joe McVicker, the creator of the wallpaper cleaning substance, decided to send some to the teacher, thinking the children could use the substance as clay. The teacher loved it and passed the word on, and soon McVicker was supplying lots of schools with the stuff we now know as Play-Doh!
What started out as an off-white clay substance is now comes in classic, neon, and pastel colors, can be bought with confetti or sparkles in it, and can be used with hundreds of special accessories and play sets.
But what else can you do with Play-Doh, assuming you don't want to go out and buy all of the accessories and playsets?
If you have kids, chances are you can just plop the Play-Doh in front of them, and they'll come up with plenty of creative things to do with it. But here are some extra ideas, just in case.
Play restaurant, and use Play-Doh to make the food. Or, play pet store, and use Play-Doh to make the animals and their food.
Roll out a long piece of Play-Doh that looks like a snake. Then make lots of tiny balls of Play-Doh to be the snake's food. Make the snake crawl up to the food and eat it. When you press the snake's "mouth" against the food, it will really disappear... and the snake will grow bigger!
Find different small objects around the house, and press them into the Play-Doh to make impressions.
Use cookie cutters, and real forks, spoons and butter knives.
Mix up different colors of Play-Doh, If you mix them up a little bit, you get a cool rainbow swirl Play-Doh. If you mash it up a whole lot, you'll come up with some unique new solid colors!
Feel like an extra challenge? The recipe for genuine Play-Doh is a trade secret, but it definitely includes wheat flour, water, salt, and petroleum distillate. There are tons of recipes online. Do some research and some experimenting, and see if you can come up with a recipe that gets close to the real thing!
Happy National Play-Doh Day!
Published by Nicki Mann
I am an adult student studying to be a special education teacher, after several years of working with children with special needs in different capacities. When I'm not in school, I'm at home caring for my tw... View profile
Fallout 3 Review: A Stroll Through the WastesFallout 3 combines the best aspects of the revered Fallout series and the unabashed freedom of Bethesda's own Elder Scrolls games.- The Bells of Lubeck, GermanyLubeck is an ancient city in the north part of Germany, once known as the Queen of the Hanseatic League. Clinging to her earlier grandeur, Lubeck is now an UNESCO World Heritage site.
- House Rules to for Moms to Set to Survive the Summer Safely with Kids, Especially...A list of rules and guidelines one week into Summer vacation, written by a mom with 9 year old twin boys and a 6 year old boy who apparently now believe that Mommy is "not the boss of them" when she still totally is!!...
- Easy Halloween Costumes: Crafting Creative Getup from Household Items Each year, it gets more and more difficult to come up with a unique, corny or creative Halloween costume. These inexpensive ideas are sure to make your costume the hit of the party! Leave your friends wishing they had...
Top Three Gifts Under $10Holiday presents do not need to cost a lot of money. For under ten dollars, you can give a very meaningful, personalized gift.
- Play-Doh: Fun For Kids and Kids at Heart
- Play-Doh Cologne
- Quality Clay to Help Your Child Develop Artistic Ability
- Odd and Highly Unusual September Holidays
- Holidays on Earth Today: September 18, 2009
- Behind the Scenes - Big Brother 11 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009
- Keep Yourself Sane While Your Partner is Out of Town