CM CLUB: Am i making a mountain out of a playdoh Hill

[StrawberryFULLMoonOWOWOWWWWWWW]

dd ill with c.pox, sore throat, cold..told mindee mum, she still brought her..1/2 hour late but hey ho, not going anywhere!

children did a bit of colouring, we all made some biscuits and then i got the brand spanking new and expensive playdoh out...before i left room to take biscuits out of oven i said 'dont mix the playdoh colours up, its all new and we cant make different coloured things if it all mixed together' or something to that effect...i get biscuits out, go back in and mindee has squished every colour together like a multi coloured pizza!
dd had flattend hers and piled them on top but like layers..but mindee has made sure we cant separate them to use separatly again after i asked not too...hmmm
have i had to little sleep with dd being up all night or would you be slightly miffed too?

hmm how old is mindee?

Yes I would be a little miffed but it is one of those things that regularly happens. I now make my own play dough & only put out one colour at a time, it saves the worry & expense as it is a lot cheaper to make & keeps well in an airtight container.

just three, but she is old enough to understand, but also old enough to disregard and think..ooohh pretty colours..squish!!

good idea badger head..i know ive seent his before but how do you make it?..ill go buy ingreedients friday

well at 3yrs old i would def be a bit miffed by it. old enough to understand an instruction not to do it.
i also make my own play-dough,and just do one colour at a time. alot easier and cheaper!

hmm..so i told her she couldnt play with it anymore as id asked her not to mix it..she stood up and went to play with one of the other million toys in the playroom?!..how on earth do i stress that it was wrong?

Yep, I would be well miffed, but wouldn't say anything to them probably - some kids just will do this. I buy the playdoh but get the separate pots so only get one colour out at a time. Why does my home-made playdough not keep and go all sticky even though I follow the recipe? I think by the time I've used all that salt etc it's cheaper to buy it ready-made.

well i had two of each colour and only got out one off each cos dd likes to make pretend sausages, peas carrots etc

Yes it's a problem I've found when own DS and DD like to play nicely with it and get upset if it all gets mixed - so much so that mine have their own separate play doh which they have out when mindees not around.

This is the recipe I use for playdough, I find that if you wrap it in clingfilm & then put it in an airtight container that it will keep for some time.
1 mug of sieved flour
1 mug of water
1/2 mug salt
1 dessertspoon of cooking oil
2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
food colouring of your choice

Mix them all together in a saucepan on a low heat & knead. Let it cool & use.
I will add extra flour if I feel that it is too sticky.

... btw, talking about them making pretend food, if anyone wants the salt-dough recipe that can be baked in the oven it is:

flour 300g / 10oz
salt 300g / 10 oz
water 200ml / 1/3 pint
oil 2 teaspoons

mix together, make shapes etc, bake 20 mins. (depending on thickness of shape)at 180 degrees C/350 degress F/gas mark 4.

Mine have made little birthday cakes, plates of food etc for their dolls house. Paint with acrylic paint, or poster paint with some PVA glue mixed in.

ah!..i like that idea!..thankyou

...light bulb comes on about how tomake fab halloween/christmas decorations!!!

is it plain flour?

I think I used plain flour; I got the recipe from 'The Rainy Day Book' (www.dk.com)and it doesn't actually say. I never know which flour to use for the ordinary play dough recipe either.

You can squash one of those coloured paperclips into the shapes before baking so you have a hoop to thread string through - useful for xmas tree decorations, pendants etc.

This is why I too always make play dough and never buy it .

I am a bit of a 'I like every thing in its place, don't get things mixed up' freak, so you can imagine how I feel when they mix it up.
I find that however careful my older mindees are some of it still gets mixed up, afraid its inevitable.
I think I would just not give her the chance to do the same thing again, 1 colour play dough til she can learn to play without mixing it all up.

yeah, thats what ill be doing! and ill make some after weekend!..thanks for tips girls..and to know im not over reacting

oooh now you know what im going to do the kids today!! im going to make bright pink play dough, both kids love pink!!! with vanilla flavouring!!

how long do i need to cook it for?
how long will it take to cool, roughly?

i think you sound a bit stir crazy strawberry...i can undersand your irritation, esp being stuck indoors. but it was a bit hard to stop her playing, imo.

is there a large open space nearby- without a playground, where you could all get some air, without meeting other kids? did this when my dds had the pox.

You cook it until it looks done.
Basically you stir it as it cooks and then it ends up as one big lump int he pan. Give it a bit longer than you think - just to make sure it is not too sticky. YOu can also do it in the microwave. Just sitr every 30 siec or so to take the dry bits off the edge and keep going until it seems the right consistancy

Flatten it a bit on a board. It should be cool enough after about 10 mins.

ok ive made it, think ill microwave next time as now my pan is a right mess - any tips on how to sort it out?

kids are loving it though!!

it kinda worked wasn't bad for first attempt it has got some while bits in but the kids will sort those out

lmg,if you have any coke handy put that in the pan and boil it up and that should remove the mess!

thats coca cola not the other sort!!

was wondering what state my pans would be in!

it was ok in the end, soaked it in warm water and washing up liquid and it came off easy

Exactly the same thing happened with my after schoolers last week. Boy of 5 completely mixed up play dough. I thought 'hey never mind just make some instead of buying next time'. I cant get twitched up about it because children are all different and I cant expect them to know exactly what bugs me. They are not my kids. Its not something my daughter would do but she is a bit like me. The thing I quite like about childmindinding is the kids are so different and you cant get the rough without the smooth!