Play-Dough Joy.

This afternoon was all about play-dough in our house. Who doesn't love the play-dough experience? For me, everything from the tactile experience of the dough to the smell when the container is first opened to all the fun tools used to shape the dough into limitless scenes, objects and creatures is pure joy. It reminds me of my childhood, of simple joys, of a world that is only limited by the bounds of my imagination. My kids also love playing with play-dough. Hayden's favorite part of play-dough is rolling out the dough with a rolling pin and making "cookies" of all different shapes and sizes. He also likes me to make all different animals and creatures, which has truly tested my scultping abilities......he has asked me to make everything from an alligator to a tiger to a dinosaur to a beetle. And, belive me, if it doesn't look just like he thinks it should look, it is back to the play-dough drawing board for Mommy. It has also been a great way to reinforce his letters and to help him begin to learn to spell his name. I bought a cheap set of letter cookie cutters, and they have really been a wonderful learning investment. So far, he can write "H-A" so by the end of the summer when he is ready to enter his four-year-old preschool class, he should know to write and recognize his name. Kids love to learn when the learning is hands-on, fun, and full of active experience. Kennedy loves play-dough, too, and can often be found making play-dough meals or fantasy creatures or full families of puppies, ducks, or other animals. Adults and children, together, tend to love playdough because of its ambiguity, the control to make anything one wants, and the fact that "mistakes" can be easily re-created into something else. I often find myself joining in on the fun to roll snakes, cut out the letters to my name, create nameless creatures, or just enjoy the malliability of the dough in my hands.

And, for all you moms out there, don't deprive yourself of the joy of letting your kids play with play-dough. Yes, it can be messy. Yes, it can dry out quickly. Yes, if you were to come over to my house right now, there would be bits of play-dough in between the floor boards of my wood floor and probably in the cracks of my wood table, too. But.....it is one of those simple joys that does so much to support positive, healthy development and it is well worth the mess. And, one of my joys as a mom is seeing my kids so happy to open up a can of play-dough and seeing them enter this creative, colorful world. For $1.49 for three cans of fresh play-dough, I think it is a very worthwhile investment.....or you can always go the route of making your own, which is not my personal preference....some even make theirs out of peanut butter and proclaim that it is edible....For just a couple of dollars and that industrial dough smell, I will gladly bypass the homemade for that whiff of nostalgia. Regardless of your preferred type of dough, take it from your resident blogging psychologist.......let the joy of playdough into the lives of your kids......and yourself!