We have a lot of fun at our house. There's a myriad of projects, toys, crafts, and other things we occupy ourselves with each day. I'm pretty open with what I'll let the kids play with, but there are a few exceptions. Some years ago, we instituted a life long ban on play dough in our house. Somehow it found its way into carpets, hair, and managed to be crumpled into tiny pieces and chunks as far as the eye could see. We tried monitored time, which worked, but little eyes and little hands would find some way to smuggle it out for some illegal playtime right underneath a certain mama's nose. Our solution was "the ban."
I've heard from all the other mamas how much their kids love it and all the ways to control the "play dough habit." Was I depriving my children of a significant childhood experience that would leave them scarred in adulthood? I found a solution that works for us.
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| Ava's snail |
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| Trista's Snowgirl holding her doll |
Whenever breads, cookies, or anything else that involves a doughy start is brewing in the kitchen the chicklings come flocking to my side. Cookie cutters are rummaged from drawers, rolling pins grabbed, straws and skewers are gathered for decorating, and each child gets there own pinch of dough. Those little balls of clay-like goodness take so many different forms over the next hour or so, until their sculptors tire, shape them into one final form, and present them for baking. Sometimes the creations are eaten, sometimes they're just admired and then tossed in what is affectionately known as "file 13" in our house. Either way, my girlies have had their fun, there's no contraband to wreak havoc in our happy home, and I feel good as a mama for having let them express their creativity.
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| Ari's folded blanket :) |
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