These are two of the creations that my kids made using the Play-Doh EZ 2 Do Zoo. (Pink Giraffe and Green Elephant, in case you weren’t sure. )

I like sets like these. I’m was never very good at coming up with something creative with just a lump of clay or a pile of Lego, and I always felt so lame watching other kids come up with the coolest sculptures and such while I sat there staring at the lump. I do have fun, though, replicating something while giving it my own little spin. I’m guessing there are lots of kids like me out there who are daunted by the idea of coming up with something from scratch, but who still love to play with Play-Doh and other arts and crafts materials. I think these types of sets are great for them. This set comes with several sets of eyes, feet, wings, ears and more, as well as some texture paddles that allow you to give a feathery or other texture to the Play-Doh body of the animals.

Of course, my 1 year old did both. He used the set and still came up with a brand new creation. What do you think we should name this one?

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It always fascinates me the way my son can take a standard toy and play with it in ways I never imagined. This Play Doh constructed keyboard is one example.

Here are the keys up close. How did he make them? With this:

Any adult would see that this is a pastry tip, garlic press type apparatus where you put a big ball of Play Doh in and press down on the handle to have it squirt out a long tube in whatever shape the slide-in plate dictates. My four-year-old, however, used it to make these “piano keys” instead. Pretty clever, eh?

Have a picture of your child’s toy creation? Email me!

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What to do? Well, head on over to Simplymoms and check out their 10 different playdough recipes, some that are even edible! How fun is that? They share ideas of activites to do with your play doh, as well as an idea for a play doh themed birthday party!

This is the recipe we used today:

• “Play Dough”
  1 cup flour
  1/2 cup salt
  1/2 cup water
  Mix well until it forms a ball. Knead add food coloring if desired. If sticky add some flour and if to dry add a small amount of water.

We needed closer to 1 1/2 cups of flour to get the right consistency. I used Betty Crocker Gel Food Colors to get the rainbow array pictured. The color seemed to mix through the play doh well, and washed right off my hands with a little soap and water. The end results are not as fun as some of the more vibrant official Play-doh colors, but I figure that they eventually get all mushed together anyway.

Which is what happened about 15 minutes later. My almost 3 yr old said, “Mommy, I didn’t want all the colors mushed up! Can you fix it?” You know, there are some things even mommies can’t fix.

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