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October 1, 2012

Mama Loves...Modeling Clay!

Yes.  It's me, MandyE.  This blog has not been hacked by a mom who enjoys messes.  No, really...there's no need to fear! 

I bought the girls Play-Doh six months ago or so.  They enjoy playing with it...but I can't say that I do. 

Sure, I relish that not-necessarily-good-but-nevertheless-nostalgic smell from my childhood.  I like cutting out shapes with cookie cutters, and squishing my fingers into the muck...but...it can be a little messy...and that makes me a little nervous.

Specifically, I had no recollection from my childhood of how Play-Doh "crumbles", leaving teeny-tiny specks of dough in its wake.

Hmmm...perhaps that's because children aren't made nervous by messes.  Their minds don't wander over to what kind of kitty puke would be the result of our furry baby eating those Play-Doh "crumbles" off the floor.  They aren't looking ahead to how much fun it would be to use tweezers to painstakingly pick errant "crumbles" from our white carpet.

Of course children shouldn't be made nervous by messes...that's a mama's job.  And I do that job pretty well, if I do say so!

When we attended the girls' preschool open house, I was so happy to hear the teacher mention, "And we get to play with Play-Doh!"

Whew!  My children will still enjoy that childhood rite of passage...while someone else is responsible for "crumble" management.

But...I stumbled upon something last week that caught my attention.  I was browsing through the craft store (while my children were at preschool, probably playing with Play-Doh), and I saw Crayola Model Magic.  And prominently written on the bag..."No messy crumbling!"



I brought it home and tentatively gave it to the girls.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

It was very easy to manipulate (unlike what I remember of true modeling clay)...there was no smell...and NO CRUMBLES!!! 

I haven't tried it with our cookie cutters yet, but we had plenty of fun making "sculptures".

I'm linking up with Julia at Pontifications of a Twin Mom for "Mama Loves".  I think I love this clay...and I know I love that I can still offer my girlies such a quintessential part of childhood play...without sending myself into a cold sweat.

6 comments:

Jennie said...

I keep a cheap plastic baby pool out all year and if my toddler is playing with something messy... he plays with it in there! He seems fine with it, and it is easy to clean up!

Mandy said...

I will have to try this. I am chucking all the play doh for that very reason, and I have hardwood floors! I did discover moon dough that doesn't dry out and is pretty neat. It is super crumbly, but doesn't smash into things. The vacuum picks it up fabulously!

Julia said...

Hmmmm...this sounds pretty fantastic! I, too, hate the crumbles (and it really get annoyed when I find a stray one a few days after we've put the play-dough away!! This seems like a perfect solution! Hooray! I love discovering things like this! Thanks, Miss Mandy! :)

yettie said...

Mandy! First scissors and now this... I don't know about this blog not being hacked. LOL!

This sounds like an improvement on the old types and hope you & the girls have more days of fun with it.

Cecilia said...

I have a major phobia of play doh! I hate the mess. I made my girls some homeade play doh and it is so much less messy and smells delicious!

cat said...

If you ever want to try a fantastic non crumbling home made one search " best playdough recipe ever" on my blog. I can vouch for that one