We've discovered Play-Doh

I can't believe we are there already but we are. Eva can play with Play-Doh. Her attention span for it is about 5-10 minutes but I think that is pretty good. She still likes rolling it in her hands and flattening it out.

Using cookie cutters with the Play-Doh.

My grandma used to use phonebooks
as booster seats for us. This seemed to
fit the bill today. 

This was when I said, "Smile and show Mommy your Play-Doh."
Obviously, not willing to deviate from the task-at-hand.

So, the traditional store-bought playdough is easy to come by but there are a few homemade recipes out there that do the trick, too.
This is one like my mom used to make for us kids:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• Food coloring
• Saucepan
• 1 cup flour

Directions

1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
2. Remove from heat and add flour.
3. Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.
4. Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.

My wonderful friend, Ruth, who spends two days-a-week with Eva, made something similar to this recipe for our little girl one week.

1 cup oatmeal baby cereal (or rice cereal for a gluten-free option)
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup apple sauce (one packet of the squeezable kind)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Food coloring of choice

Mix the baby cereal and cornstarch together well. Add in the apple sauce, vegetable oil, and food coloring and knead with hands until the dough is a thick, moldable consistency resembling play dough. Repeat for additional colors. Dough can be refrigerated when not being used for up to 4 days. Simply microwave it for approximately 15 seconds or however long to warm it up to where it is moldable.