Play-Doh: The Toy Without Age Boundaries

Gift giving during any time of year can be a trying task especially for children. It is always hard to tell what characters they are into and what kind of things they like to do. There are many choices available to you that would probably please even the most finicky child but you never know which one is the right one. Dora the Explorer? Blue's Clues? Bratz? Barbie? Hot Wheels? The choices are endless, where to even begin.

The most foolproof gift I have found for children of all ages young and old (and I do mean old) is Play-Doh. I have yet to meet a child that does not like Play-Doh for one reason or another. Play-Doh can be cut into fun cookie cutter shapes, squeezed to make hair, snakes, and spaghetti, or just mound up to make a mountain for cars to drive over.

Forget the party favors and games, forget the piñatas and treat bags all you need is some Play-Doh to entertain the children of all ages at your next birthday party. The love of Play-Doh is not bound by any age limit in my house. Both of my kids get Play-Doh for their birthdays from their grandma. I have not yet decided though if it is actually for the kids of for the adults. From racing cars and monster trucks across the table into other peoples mountains of Play-Doh the adults at the birthday parties have hours of fun.

The colors do not matter, any will do. We have had purple and yellow mountains, orange and pink spaghetti, and even blue and green cookie cutter shapes as the children both young and old laugh with delight at the creations they have made or destroyed. Within minutes of the cans being opened there are roads constructed, walls built, and hill pilled high. Cars and monster trucks go zinging across the table to see who can destroy whose building first. As the host of the party, I am generally in the kitchen getting things ready as I hear the laughter explode from the room. If I am lucky I do not hear any uh oh's or crashing of innocent objects before.

As I am getting ready to look around the corner to see which child is creating all the havoc across my table I hear my 6-year-old son say, "Grandma, we are not allowed to play with cars on the table." I stood their in disbelief for a moment thinking maybe I had heard him wrong, but I turned the corner just in time to see my mom wielding a monster truck across the table at another adult party guests Play-Doh wall.

This birthday party delight will entertain all your guests no matter what their age. I guess the age limit of 3+ that is on the can of Play-Doh really means ages 3 and up with no end in sight.