Playdough (the poll)

[eternalknot]

I'm wondering how many parents:

 

(a) liked or loved

(b) couldn't stand

© are indifferent to

 

playdough, and

 

(d) encouraged

(e) forbid

(f) tolerated at times

 

having it in their homes.

 

When voting, please select two options - first for a/b/c, and again for d/e/f.

If none of these apply, select g and sashay yourself down the catwalk.

[SKL]

I think play-doh is great for my kids to play with, as long as I don't have to deal with it. This is one thing I delegated 100% to their nanny.

 

I remember enjoying Play-doh as a kid. My mom was apparently a better person than I.

[ChristineW]

I like and encourage homemade play dough. I loathe the stuff you get at the store.

 

Christine

[Caitilin]

Real play dough I can't stand and won't have in the house. I found a nice, natural one that doesn't stink, And ds4 can play with that at the table. NB, I have laminate floors, no carpet, so it's not a cleanup issue for me, just the nasty smell.

[eternalknot]

Couldn't have gotten two more appropriate responses straight out of the gate :D

 

I'm asking because my kids want to make some to send my nephews for Christmas. My kids loved playdough! I'm just not sure my SIL is going to be keen on it. She doesn't have a nanny, but my MIL has the kids during the week so maybe it WOULD get used at her house (she doesn't mind the mess, she always did it with my kids also).

 

I just remembered my kids being younger and most parents hating playdough. I don't want to send a gift that's gonna be a PITB :blush:.

[jewellsmommy]

We buy play doh every Christmas and the different tool things that you can use with it. I don't care for the moon sand stuff though.

[Farrar]

I know a lot of people hate it, but it was much loved here. At age 4 to 5, it would keep them busy for HOURS. With that context, how can you be a hater?

[Arcadia]

She doesn't have a nanny, but my MIL has the kids during the week so maybe it WOULD get used at her house (she doesn't mind the mess, she always did it with my kids also).

 

How about send the playdough to your nephews but put a label "to be opened in MIL's home". That way it wouldn't be a cleaning issue for your SIL. :D

[Nakia]

I despise playdough. "Despise" isn't a strong enough word, actually. The smell makes me sick.

 

I am cool with glitter, paint, sequins, glue, etc but JUST SAY NO TO PLAYDOUGH!

[eternalknot]

How about send playdough to your nephews but put "to be opened in MIL's home". That way it wouldn't be a cleaning issue for your SIL. :D

 

That's not a bad idea :tongue_smilie: if I liked my SIL. (Kidding LOL)

 

Actually maybe that's what I'll do - I'll have the boys open it at my MIL's and just leave it there rather than mail it to SIL directly.

[mellifera33]

My 5 y/o played with salt dough for about 3 hours today--burying pencil "pipes" for the eventual house he built, creating a forest, fashioning food to barbecue. We like homemade salt dough because it doesn't stink, doesn't stain, and I don't worry if my 2 y/o tastes it.

[Grover]

love it. Homemade only - the commercial stuff is nasty

[MrsBasil]

I like and encourage playdough with my child who is old enough to not eat it. I have no preference between the store stuff and the homemade stuff, but DH and DS like the homemade stuff better.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

There are people that hate Play Doh? :confused: I'm truly shocked! I had no idea. The smell reminds me of my own childhood, and my only experience with trying to make the homemade stuff ended badly, so we use store-bought.

 

My only beef with it is that I'm so type-A that I barely survived the color blending that inevitably happens. I spent the first several years of our Play Doh experiences picking apart the tiny fragments of other colors and returning them all to their respective little plastic cans. When they were finally old enough to play with it alone or together, I was freed from that particular personal hell.

[carina]

Eh. As long as they aren't eating it or smashing it in the carpet it's ok.

[Heather in Neverland]

I have a love-hate relationship with playdough.

 

The smell doesn't bother me and all of my kids LOVE to play with it.

 

BUT...

 

it ALWAYS ends up ground into my carpet and there are little pieces of it everywhere and all the colors get mixed up which messes with my OCD. :tongue_smilie:

[skeeterbug]

I don't get it. Is playdough code for something? Are we really talking about playdough here?

[Rosie_0801]

Make it out of equal parts peanut butter and milk powder. It won't make much mess because they'll eat it.

 

Unless they are allergic to peanuts then you'd better not. :tongue_smilie:

[Seeking Squirrels]

When my little sister turned 4, DH and I bought her a little play-doh set. My step mom commented that play-doh is the gift you give to the children of people you hate.

 

Fast forward 5 years and guess what she gave DD for her second birthday? :lol:

 

I don't mind playdough at all, but I much prefer the homemade kind.

[lynn]

I prefer to make my own it does not crumble or dry out as fast as regular play dough. I did by a set for a friends birthday that my dd liked and I thought friend would like and the comments from other parents were negative.

[Changed]

I don't get it. Is playdough code for something? Are we really talking about playdough here?

 

If I had been drinking something when I read this, it would have came out my nose! :lol:

 

I hate the mess, but the kids love it, so we have it here.

[2squared]

We love play dough, but I only make the homemade kind. My kids haven't experienced the store bought kind.

[SevenDaisies]

It keeps my kids busy for hours, so it is worth every bit of clean-up. We have rules - only in our school room which has laminate, and it must be played with on the table.

 

Agree on the moon sand -cleanup is much harder so while the kids love it, it rarely comes out.

[Chris in VA]

Playdoh is ok--I do like the smell, but it's just not enough in the little cans.

 

Homemade is GREAT!!!! It's a great sensory activity (esp when you give it to them warm and freshly made) all by itself--I love to make different kinds, from coffee dough to glitter dough to pb (edible, like Rosie said) dough. We make a huge amt 3x batch every time we make it. (Should say made, as we don't anymore). I use the one with oil and cream of tartar. I make it only one color bc I don't like that disgusting pukey green the commercial mixes to.

[Parrothead]

I find the smell of playdough to be disgusting. I tolerated having it in the house.

[athena1277]

Forbid, but not for the reasons you think. Dd has been gluten-free since she was 23 months old. Play-doh has gluten in it. It would be ok for her to touch it, but it would be really hard to make sure I get it all out from under her fingernails before she ate. For the record, I do let ds play with it when it's somewhere like Bible class.

[Night Elf]

Playdough rocks. My kids must have used it wrong though because there were no major messes. I let them use the kitchen table and then washed it down. It was no different from having a meal.

[Kathryn]

Dislike but tolerate at times.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Love it. We still use it for read aloud time with dd. Smell does not bother me and we use the store bought kind, never tried the homemade ones. But play dough needs to be fresh so it is a good thing it is cheap because throw it out after a few uses.

[Nestof3]

I adored Play-doh as a child, and I have kept my boys supplied. I still really like the scented and spr:001_smile:inkle kind.

[Jen+4dc]

It will keep my kids happily busy and building for hours (like Legos!). But, we only use homemade (the one with oil & cream of tartar).

I hate the smell and the food coloring mess so I often use unsweetened Kool-Aid packages (you know, the little envelopes you have to add sugar to) instead of food coloring.

The bonus is, it smells like whatever flavor Kool-Aid you used. The bad is I've had younger kids try and eat it because it smells good. But, it's just salt, flour, water, oil, and cream of tartar so (unless you have an allergy issue) it won't hurt to eat it, it just tastes terrible.:tongue_smilie:

[2squared]

I loved and encouraged it. I don't care for the smell, but otherwise I like it.

 

I have encountered homemade play dough and thought it was pretty bad. The dye gets on your hands, and after awhile it smells disgusting.

 

I haven't had the dye issue. You must have run into a bad recipe. I use the oil & cream of tartar recipe with food coloring, and we haven't had any issues with smells or dye.

 

My favorite kind to make is pumpkin pie - orange food coloring with pumpkin pie spice. I haven't tried adding glitter yet. That would be fun.

[fairfarmhand]

Pladough is an outside toy.

 

Can''t abide it in the house.

[aggie96]

There are people that hate Play Doh? :confused: I'm truly shocked! I had no idea. The smell reminds me of my own childhood, and my only experience with trying to make the homemade stuff ended badly, so we use store-bought.

 

My only beef with it is that I'm so type-A that I barely survived the color blending that inevitably happens. I spent the first several years of our Play Doh experiences picking apart the tiny fragments of other colors and returning them all to their respective little plastic cans. When they were finally old enough to play with it alone or together, I was freed from that particular personal hell.

 

I agree with all of this! I spent the first couple of years separating the colors. Once I realized how much time I spent doing that versus the cost of replacing it when it got really, really, really bad, I now choose to let it mix and buy new. I usually replace once a year at Christmas. We LOVE Play-Doh around here. :tongue_smilie:

[texasmama]

I loved it and my kids love it. I still open the can and take a deep sniff of it. I heart the smell of playdough.

 

You can easily make it with materials you likely have around the house. I've done so in the past.

[Guest]

I have never understood the frustration with play-doh. I mean, yes, it's a lot to take out (we have quite the bin), and a lot does fall on the floor, but I always just vacuum it all up. Now, the kids play at the kitchen table and the hard floor is a cinch to vacuum. Before, they would play at a table in a carpeted room and I never had problems vacuuming it up in there, either. Granted, they didn't grind it in, but it has never been as awful for me as people make it out to be.

 

To the OP, I might mention something to my SIL first. I am the kind of person that most people think I am NOT a play-doh person. I actually am and I would be crushed if someone gave my kids a gift and said it was only for another place because I would mind. That's just me, though.

[Dmmetler]

I tolerated it, yet encouraged it because DD needed the fine motor and sensory practice. However, for many, many years it got played with only on the back porch, after it ended up in the carpet one time too many, and now DD knows that if it gets on the floor, she is responsible for picking up every single solitary molecule of the stuff. She LOVES making characters and scenes to go along with school topics. She prefers model magic or Sculpey, though-both end up with results that are much more play-with-able than Playdoh (Sculpey is her favorite, but it's super-expensive).

[fairy4tmama]

I'm just not sure my SIL is going to be keen on it. She doesn't have a nanny, but my MIL has the kids during the week so maybe it WOULD get used at her house (she doesn't mind the mess, she always did it with my kids also).

 

I just remembered my kids being younger and most parents hating playdough. I don't want to send a gift that's gonna be a PITB :blush:.

I haven't read the rest of the responses but you could always send it in a Rubbermaid like container with some vinyl place mats/tablecloth. I find the addition of those makes play dough tolerable.

[Jerico]

I'd like it better if the dog could clean up the mess on the floor :tongue_smilie:

[AdventureMoms]

We love it! I prefer homemade, but someone gave DD a really huge box of the store-bought stuff for Christmas last year and we're still using that, and it's fun too. I don't separate colors. If they get mushed together, we get to play with brown, no biggie. Bits get left out and I sweep them up and throw them out. When we get really low I make or buy more. We have no carpet. The smell is not my favorite, but my kids seem to come with lots of smells I don't love, lol....

 

I encourage it, it's good for fine motor development and not as hard to clean up as some of their other favorite activities (paint, glue, etc)

 

I like the moon sand too, maybe I'm just crazy. :-D

[bluemongoose]

I voted B and G. I only voted G because I do allow playdough outside on the kiddy picnic table, but I do not allow it in the house. I just cannot stand it getting mushed into the carpet!

[kewb]

We love play-doh. I will admit to loving the chemical smell of a new tub of play-doh. What I did not like was the fact that my kids thought nothing of mixing all the colors together so we ended up with tubs of marble play-doh and muddy play-doh. It didn't bother them at all.

[Alice]

Hate it. I don’t buy it but my parents often give it as a present. I’ll tolerate it if we have it in the house but I won’t buy more.

[eternalknot]

You ladies are so great!

 

The poll makes me feel better that even those who hate playdough will make some allowances if it's gifted :D

 

We've never before made it, but the consensus seems to be that homemade stuff w/cream of tartar and koolaid is the way to go. I'm intrigued by the glitter and other suggestions, and am going to tool around the internet for more ideas. This may turn into something I can have my boys make for my daughter, too - playdough and glitter all in one would be a dream come true for her LOL.

 

I'm going to take the suggestion to make a little kit of it - a huge vinyl, cloth-backed playmat they can unroll onto the floor or tabletop, plus some cutting utensils and maybe some aprons. I'm going to also take heed that SIL might be sad/offended if I send it straight to MIL. I'll have my husband ask his sister directly which she prefers. She'll be honest and not offended if it's coming from him.

 

Yay! His family is done!

[MAIMOM]

I like and encourage homemade play dough. I loathe the stuff you get at the store.

 

Christine

 

:iagree:Agree with Christine. I forbid the store bought kind but we loved the home made kind. Oh, the hours of fun they had....I could get dinner cooked when they were 2 and 3 because of it!

[momtoamiracle]

i buy it for my son, he loves it. I put a plastic tablecloth down and let him go to town. If it gets on the rug I let it dry and vacuum it up.

 

 

It's not that big a deal. I usually get the cheap stuff, it's not as sticky as the real play dough.

[Belacqua]

Personally, I adore it. Love the smell, and when is extruding stuff not fun? But my kid never took to it. He poked at it a few times and looked at me with a puzzled expression. We never bought it again.

 

But I might just have to get a can for myself; all this talk has made me want to make many, many rolled-out snakes.

[Bearcat]

Love it. Encourage it. Homemade, store bought makes no difference. My kids also love that Model Magic stuff but I admit I rarely buy it because it is more expensive. It keeps the kids happily occupied for hours on end and it promotes creative play. They add props (buttons, feathers, pipe cleaners etc) and create animals, creatures etc. The color mixing did drive me crazy at first but I quickly realized I needed to let go and let them do their thing.

They play at the table and are provided with trays to put the play dough on. They rarely stay within the confines of a tray but clean up usually does not take long. Pack it all up, wipe down table and maybe sweep the floor if they were extra messy. (They do all that, not me.)

[*Lulu*]

Loathe it. It ALWAYS winds up in a mess on the floor. Still I find myself encouraging it; I buy it, put it out for them, use it during school time, and try to keep my anxiety from rising as they chop it into a bazillion tiny pieces.

[kitten18]

I voted Liked or Loved but I also voted for Tolerated because I wouldn't really say I Encouraged the playdoh use.;)