Homemade Playdough

When I was in the second or third grade I had a science project due at school. Probably my first one ever and if I remember correctly, I waited until the night before it was due to even start. (It is amazing how parts of your personality like procrastination start at such a young age and stubbornly stick with you until you realize that the only way it will get unstuck is if YOU unstick it.) Anyway, the project was that I had to create one of those little boxes that you look into and the environment was colored all over the sides of the box and the subject was somewhere in there. I spent a few minutes trying to google what this was called, but no luck. It is driving me insane now. I'm sure Ben will know (he knows everything) when he gets home. I kind of got off track there...DINOSAURS. We had to mold our favorite dinosaur out of playdoh or clay and create the environment in which it lived in this little box. Well, because I waited until the last minute I had no clay or playdoh. Mommy dearest saved the day. She said she could make some homemade playdoh and that it would work just fine. I don't remember if I expressed my disappointment or not, but I was thinking, "Homemade playdoh? This is going to suck." She went off into the kitchen and a short while later I had a lump of play dough! I was pleasantly surprised because A) it didn't smell nearly as horrific as store bought playdoh B) it was a shade of blue, which was my favorite color and finally C) it had an awesome sandy texture which I have always loved. Needless to say I finished my project and mom gave me a memory that I have recalled on many many accounts thus far in my life. Every time I have thought about playing playdoh with my kids, or I am squishing that sick smelling stuff through my fingers I think about that night and how mom had made playdoh that was so much better than any store bought stuff.

Today, probably close to 25 years later I decided to give it a try myself. I found a recipe online and to my surprise already had all the ingredients on hand. My mom suggested that I let the kids help make it and I did just that. Well, Hope anyway. Noah is with his dad, and here is what Eden was doing...

...eating a cookie.

Hope was snacking too, on a pringle. In the middle picture you can see her putting salt in the pot with one hand and holding her chip in the other. :) That's my girl. I asked her what color she would like the play dough to be, although I already knew what she would say. Purple! It is her favorite color, and luckily we had some purple food coloring, so purple play dough it would be. I gave them some cookie cutters and Hope was very proud of herself for making the shapes, check out the bottom right picture.

Mom- be sure to click on the collage to make it bigger, Hope is making some pretty priceless expressions you will want a close up of! In the top right picture she was really get into it and stood up on her chair to find the most efficient way to smoosh her playdough.

Eden did as expected. She was excited but didn't know what to do with it. I tried showing her a couple of things and finally she was content with tearing it into pieces and throwing it on the floor after unsuccessfully trying to slather it in her hair.

Eden played about 10 minutes total and Hope about 15. Short-lived, but at least it stores in the fridge for a while. Or so I'm told.

***DIORAMA!!! Ben told me. :)***