Tuesday, January 19, 2010

happy tension relieving toy day

--This item was patented today, in 1967.

--You had to keep your children from eating this when they were little, just as your mother had to keep you from eating it when you were little.

--Your mother probably wouldn't let you play with it in the living room, because she probably had wall-to-wall shag carpeting there. Possibly orange. I don't know what she was worried about. You couldn't have made it look worse.

--This item is memorialized in (around) 60-foot high glory at Disney's Pop Culture Resort, the 60s wing. We have pictures. The elephant next to it has thumbprints on its ears, as if a child put them there. (That's one big child.)

--If you have kids, you've probably "eaten" pizzas made from it, as well as cookies, hamburgers, and the occasional smorgasbord buffet. Only kids who have been to a lot of church potlucks or China Buffets do this last one.

--You play with it now every once in a while, either on the sly or pretending you're playing with the kids. It's really because you love the stuff. Plus, there's something truly stress relieving about smashing that satisfyingly squishy stuff. I won't tell if you pretend it's your boss/neighbor/annoying relative.

--It's still some of the cheapest and most creative fun around.

Yes-happy Play Doh Day, one of the absolute best toys to come along in the last 43 years. If you want to celebrate (and you know you do), here's the recipe I found when our kids were preschoolers. It's the best one I've ever tried, and I've tried a lot. The baby oil gives it such a great smell.

2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. salt
1 T alum
2 c. flour
2 T baby oil
Food coloring

Dissolve salt and alum in boiling water. Add food coloring, oil, and flour. Knead 5 minutes. Store in air-tight container (we just used ziplocks).


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