Who Else Hates Play Doh?

Updated on June 14, 2011
S.!. asks from Boulder, CO
38 answers

I am trying to be a "nice" mom this morning and am letting the kids play with Play Doh. I am cringing right now seeing all the little tiny pieces fall onto the ground and see it smooshed into their p.j.'s (late start this morning so we haven't got dressed yet). Yuck..I hate it. It makes such a big mess... I keep reminding them "stay at the table with it please" with a big smile on my face while secretly thinking "I hate you play doh... "

Any one else feel this way as they watch their children have fun with play doh :) ?

I mean this in all good fun.... thanks!

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So What Happened?

Oh yes.. enjoying the time watching the kids enjoy and have fun... hence the BIG smile on my face, hehe. Just the clean up part is no fun. Just a fun vent (if there is such a thing).

Featured Answers

B.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Me too! The only thing worse than cleaning up playdoh is cleaning up Moon Sand! Moms are so funny with Playdoh. One of my friends only lets her kid play with one color at a time because she hates when the colors get mixed. My other friend has a HUGE box of playdoh and tools that only comes out when they are out camping! She said don't think I'm a cool mom this stuff only comes out when we're camping and they need stuff to do! Haha! We have a bigger house now with more outside room so I'll finally let me daugter play with the 2 other moonsand sets she got for her birthday more than a year ago LOL!

2 moms found this helpful
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A.K.

answers from Houston on

Play doh is the stuff of the devil, I loathe it - the kids love it unfortunately, so sometimes I will break it out and let them play on the linoleum floor in the kitchen.
100 degrees here, so playing with it outside is "out"
In the bath would is ok, as you can sloosh it down afterwards

2 moms found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Yes. It's evil.

It is a LOT more enjoyable if you send them out onto the porch, deck, etc. and FORGET about re-collecting it after the carnage. Think of it as a O.-time play thing investment. Every time. Then you can also stop stressing about the dreaded "mixing of" and "reclaiming" it when they're done.....just pitch it.

Suddenly, Play Doh is more tolerable!

2 moms found this helpful

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V.T.

answers from Dallas on

I don't hate play-doh, but I do make my daughter play with it outside on her little tikes picnic table. All the little pieces fall into the grass. It's perfect, all I have to do is wipe down the table. However, my husband let her play with it on our patio table so now it's all over my nice table (he didn't wipe it down), and inbedded in our outdoor rug. It's not the play-doh I don't like, but in that moment, I didn't have a lot of nice things to say about my husband. At the end of the day I have to remember that my husband and daughter had a great father-daughter time.

4 moms found this helpful

B.S.

answers from Lansing on

I'm a fan of anything other than tv that can entertain my children for hours! Even if its messy. :) We just take the right precautions.

2 moms found this helpful

R.D.

answers from Richmond on

My BFF gave my girls a huge bucket of play doh about 2 Christmas's ago. They played with it ONCE... and I threw it all out. SCREW YOU PLAY DOH!

The thing is, I LOVED play doh as a kid. I had the Ghostbusters Play Doh kit... it was one of my most prizes possessions. BUT... we had a play room with a tile floor, and we had to clean it up ourselves. No big deal. BUT my house now, is sooooo not play doh safe. SAY NO TO THE DOH!! ;)

2 moms found this helpful

K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

Love, Hate relationship with play doh... but the below has made it more of a love relationship.

I make homemade play doh and we play with it outside on a table set up on the grass. Since it is homemade I have no worries of what falls falls and becomes apart of nature. When done, after a few hours of play, put it away, get out the hose and spray off the table.

Now during the cold months, which keeps us inside with the play doh, I have a plastic trap like square that I put on the kitchen floor, set my daughters kid table on top of it and let her play. After a few hours put away the play doh, clean off the table, move the table, fold up the plastic mat/tarp and dump the little scrapes in the garbage.

During the summer my daughter can play with the play duh whenever she wants, if nice outside. During the months stuck inside I only get it out once a week. Also she wears an apron that she decorated when playing with play duh and push up the shirt sleeves that saves the clothes from getting play duh on them (for the most part).

2 moms found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from New York on

I've learned to let it go, but I have to literally bite my tongue when he starts mixing the colors and remind myself that I can buy more at the bank-breaking price of $1 a tub!

He LOVES it too and it's actually really good for them. A couple of things I have learned from his preschool teacher that has saved my sanity...
- have them play with the play-doh on a large rimmed cookie sheet
- stand or sit on the floor, not at the table (depending on their age)
- lint roller their clothing and the area rug/cushions immediately after and most of it comes off
- "crumb catchers" (plastic hollow block with a bristled roller in it like a little rolling vacuum) works wonder to get up the "little pieces" when they have dried on the rugs!

2 moms found this helpful

N.G.

answers from Dallas on

I used to feel that way about it but now that my kids are old enough to clean their own messes (they are 4 and 7) it doesn't bother me. My four year old can play with play doh for HOURS.

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V.M.

answers from Cleveland on

I love it and often i pull out a cookie tray with edges for them to work on. the fresh stuff doesn't crumble as much, and it fun to make your own, when fresh that is really nice, and not crumbley at all.

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Next time have them play with it outside on a crafty table, also get them some craft aprons..

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

.

2 moms found this helpful

Y.C.

answers from New York on

I LOVE,LOVE play doh smell!
I remember being so disappointed that it didn't taste as good as it smelled, lol.
But I hate, hate cleaning play doh, specially because no matter how good you think you clean, you always found more later, more likely in clothes!
Now if there was a clothes softener or body soap with play doh smell I probably would get it!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.O.

answers from Denver on

Play doh AND Moon Sand!!! EEEK! Both are banned to outdoor play at our house...

1 mom found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

Nope don't like it...We tried to keep it contained to one area with their play kitchen but then I find it elsewhere...The stuff bugs me period. LOL

1 mom found this helpful

R.A.

answers from Providence on

I love playdough, however , I agree with you about the mess. My son had this hamburger playdough set and all of it would get stuck, or he'd make such a mess with it. Plus it dries up easy, especially if we would forget to smush it back down in the cups. We gave up on it a year ago, and now he is into painting!

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from San Antonio on

WORST. PLAY THING/TOY. EVER.

I always say that people who give Play Doh to kids for birthdays/Christmas must have no children of their own. I will take toys that make noise, need assembly, etc any day over Play Doh.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.K.

answers from Dallas on

I hate the mess but I love play doh because it keeps them occupied. I let them play with it on a cookie sheet to keep the stuff off the floor. They have to clean up whatever they do drop. Also, I throw it out as soon as it gets a little dry because it is too crumbly and makes an even bigger mess. I buy the packs with the smaller containers, too. Less playdoh, smaller mess.

1 mom found this helpful
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W.R.

answers from Norfolk on

I agree. Our rule is only at the kitchen table so it will stay away from the rugs. But then it gets ground into the seat cushions, and, as, you said, little pieces all over the floor. What I really hate is it gets under my daughter's fingernails and they look filthy for days. But I let her do it because it keeps her busy and she really enjoys it.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.T.

answers from Fayetteville on

I taught pre-school, where I hated play doh, as a mom, not so much. My girls are 6 and 4 and do pretty well with it. We have received lots of sets-like the 'ice cream shop' and the cake making set, this helps keep them at the table, but you've got to chill about the colors getting a bit mixed, it drives me nuts, but I'm trying to not let it bother me too much. If you start out by sitting with them and playing for a few minutes, if you don't already, it could help. And it washes right out of jammies. The worst is when a big glob lands on the floor and they step on it in their tennis shoes and walk all around the house, impossible to get that out of the tread!

1 mom found this helpful

L.W.

answers from Dallas on

I too hate playdoh.....In fact, I don't allow it in my house. If any makes it in here (like from a gift from someone, it comes up missing...heehee). I have told my extended family to not get playdoh....So NO to playdoh....

1 mom found this helpful

C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

My husband probably feels the same (since he's home with the kids all day!) But I personally do not mind anything that causes a mess (play-do, markers, paint, etc). I bought a painters tray for my daughter and have her use that for playdo so most of it stays on the tray. Of course with my son, it's all over the place, but I just sweep it up after they are done!

1 mom found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

Play doh is an outside thing only here. HATE it in the house! I have a l9ove hate relationship with it. Love playing with it hate the mess it makes.

1 mom found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

My kids LOVE it and I love to see them so happy and playing - but MAN! What a mess it makes!! Maybe I'll start putting a disposable table cloth on the table and one on the floor to alleviate some of the mess. And have them wear bathing suits to play with it! LOL - great idea of a toy, but horrible in terms of cleanup!

1 mom found this helpful
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T.C.

answers from Colorado Springs on

Hate the stuff! Seriously. I never buy it. I cringe when someone gives it as a gift to my children. It is the most obnoxious thing. But, we just discovered play foam. Have you seen it? LOVE it!! It works similarly as playdough, but it doesn't stick to stuff, like the carpet. It is easy to clean up. It can be shaped into whatever. The kids love it. I love it. It isn't messy. The kids actually can play with it ON the carpet with no problems at all. It looks like a bunch of tiny balls that stick together. But, the balls don't separate on their own, if that makes sense. I have never seen a lone little foam ball anywhere. They all just stick together. It is a GREAT alternative.

1 mom found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Yep. Same here.
But now that my kids are older I actually enjoy letting them get it out. Mine never seemed to get it into their clothes so much as crumbs of it fell off the table onto the seat cushions or the carpet.
I used cheap tablecloths on the FLOOR to help catch the floor stuff. Now we have tile, so I don't have to worry so much about the floor. And if it gets into the rug, let it get hard, then use a stiff knife to crumble and vacuum!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Yes, yes, I hate Play-Doh. Almost as much as I hate Moon Sand. And Glitter Glue. And crafts where tiny pieces of colored paper end up all over the place. My kids are older now and prefer painting, coloring and drawing, thank goodness, but on those rare occasions when they want to do some modeling, I have them use Model Magic, somehow, it's not quite as messy.

1 mom found this helpful

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

Me too, me too. I hate it. I hate cleaning up the mess, I hate stepping on it after it dries. I'm so bad that I haven't let me kids play with it for about 3 years. When they see it I redirect their attention to something else because I hate it so much.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

That's what daycare is for! I secretly throw it out. I loved it as a kid too, and my kids love it, but even outside on the deck it gets trodden into things.

1 mom found this helpful

K.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Funny, my sister and I were JUST talking about this yesterday. She HATES, HATES the stuff and I don't mind it so much. It keeps them busy for so long and I have a Shark sweeper that sucks those nasty little bits right up.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

I like playdough. It'll keep my kids busy for hours. And our kitchen, dining and living rooms are not carpeted, so the mess isn't a big deal. It does drive me absolutely insane to see the colors mixed. Of course I ignore it when my two year old is happily smashing the blue in with the yellow. But in my head I am screaming , "Nooo. Don't do it!!"

1 mom found this helpful

B.F.

answers from Toledo on

Lets talk Glitter....makes Play Doh look like a breeze! LOL

1 mom found this helpful

S.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

i attribute play dough for the majority of my artistic talents today! so no, i dont hate play dough, i LOVE it!

as a mom, i do get frustrated when my kids mess the play dough up. but i am teaching them to play with it the right way by playing with them and sculpting things and showing them how to pick up the pieces that fall.

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A.R.

answers from Boston on

i hate play doh...it smells bad....it gets stuck everywhere....kids eat it lol....oh and as much as i try to keep the colors seperate they always end up mixed together and then we have to make or buy more lol.....id rather crayons anyday thats why all our play doh is in a big box up high

A.G.

answers from Houston on

yeah,,,,,everything you just said,,,,uck, the stuff is awful-

L.M.

answers from Kansas City on

YUK I hate it with a passion. It STINKS.... my hands smell of it after I play with it with my son... he is reluctant (sensory issues) so I have to show him first, often I get rejected and we try something else.. and I still smell like Play-dough... ugh.

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J.B.

answers from Dayton on

When mine were young they loved play dough too..it was quickly banned from my house after the two of them had it ground into my carpet...at their little table, with a mat underneath..I still don't have a clue how they managed to get it in the carpet. My mom always jokingly said my boys were "deprived children" because they weren't allowed to have play dough at home! So you know what she did....of course ALWAYS offered them play dough at her house, and I mean always! It became a favorite thing for them to do with Grandma & Grandpa (my parents). They have fond memories of being allowed to do something there that their "mean mom" wouldn't allow at home! So my suggestion...let them have play dough...just at someone else's house :)

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P.K.

answers from New York on

My grandson loves it. I put a big piece of plastic under the chair and let him
go to town. I do not mind it.

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