a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PoXHVGzLUGI/SGdxmr5NrdI/AAAAAAAAAWI/kiNjxv3bI8I/s1600-h/Play-Doh+blog.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217263602763673042″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”" src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PoXHVGzLUGI/SGdxmr5NrdI/AAAAAAAAAWI/kiNjxv3bI8I/s320/Play-Doh+blog.JPG” border=”0″ //abr /Amy from a href=”http://momadvice.com/”MomAdvice.com/a recently shared a href=”http://www.momadvice.com/blog/2008/06/fruity-play-dough.htm”this fruity-scented playdough recipe/a. My girls absolutely love playdough, so I was anxious to try it.br /br /It takes a special person to mess up a recipe as simple as this. My mom’s always told me I’m specialbr /br /strong/strongstrongFruity Play Dough (courtesy of a href=”http://recipezaar.com/”Recipezaar.com/a)br /br /1 cup flourbr /1 package Kool-AidKool-Aid (any flavor)br /1 tablespoon cream of tartarbr /1 tablespoon vegetable oilbr /1/4 cup saltbr /3/4 cup boiling water (the original recipe called for one cup of boiling water, but I found it made the dough too loose- aim for 3/4 cup and add more if needed)br /br /Mix all dry ingredients in bowl then oil, then pour boiling water in and mix thoroughly. Wrap in cellophane or air tight container and store in fridge. The play dough should last a few months./strong br /br /I’m not even sure emhow/em I messed it up, but our blue dough is a little bit grainy. And there’s also the fact that I added 2 packs of Kool-Aid to the red because I started to worry that the pink lemonade wouldn’t show up. That, of course, made the dough extra sticky, so I had to spend 10 minutes adding additional flour to it. What can I say? Chaos was erupting as I was trying to make it yesterday morning. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.br /br /Anyway, it was a huge hit and we didn’t have any “test-tasting the playdough” issues. br /br /img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217263604387994098″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”" src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PoXHVGzLUGI/SGdxmx8e2fI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/BJx_4TuN2ic/s320/Play-Doh+2+blog.JPG” border=”0″ /br /To go with the playdough, here are my tips for stress-free playdough with toddlers and preschoolers.br /ulliToddlers get strapped in their high chairs for playdough play. I let the girls start playing with it around 18 months or so, but only when strapped in because I don’t trust them not to wander.br /br //liliI prefer using a large dropcloth and setting them up on the floor rather than playing at the table. I spread it out, give them each their assortment of tools and playdough and watch what they come up with. Since purchasing these lapdesk/table thingamajigs at Michael’s, we’ve been using them for arts and crafts on the floor as well.br /br //liliOur rule is simple: stay on the mat or it will be put away. I stick to it because it’s not worth the stress of trying to contain the mess if they’re not in the mood to listen.br /br //liliWhen it’s all said and done, pick up what you can and take the mat outside to shake out the rest. It doesn’t get easier than that./li/ulbr /br /br /a href=”http://www.mylivesignature.com/” target=”_blank”img style=”BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none” src=”http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/128/0E4A8EA9D2A4A002FC32D3D163051882.png” //abr /br /––––-–––––-––––––––-–––––––-––––-––––––-–-––––––-–––-–-–––br /span style=”font-size:85%;”Check out /spana href=”http://mythreedoodles.blogspot.com/2008/06/johnsons-soothing-naturals-gift-basket.html”span style=”font-size:85%;”this week’s giveaway/span/aspan style=”font-size:85%;”: A Johnson’s Baby Soothing Naturals gift basket!/span