Parenting Tips

By Tom McMahon
King Features Syndicate

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It feels good to the touch and smells even better. It can transform into whatever you can imagine. What began as a wallpaper cleaner in 1956 is now known as one of the most popular toys in history: Play-Doh.

Who would have thought that a toy created 52 years ago would still be popular enough today to get more than a million hits on Google? The parent company of Play-Doh, Hasbro, sells more than a hundred products that children can use with the "Doh." Ninety-eight million cans of it are sold each year.

Homemade "Play Dough" costs just pennies and can be prepared in your kitchen in a matter of minutes. There are hundreds of different variations and recipes. My daughter and I spent the greater part of a Saturday mixing up numerous concoctions, followed by serious testing by the kids in our neighborhood. We were on a mission to find the best recipes, and we succeeded! Here are two good ones.

Both of the recipes below are superb and inexpensive. Store in a covered container. Children should not eat the dough. Offer your child safe kitchen utensils, especially cookie cutters, as tools for their creations. The Play-Doh Fun Factory toys are excellent.

SMELL-DOUGH: Mix 3 cups flour, half-cup salt and 1 tablespoon alum. Add two packages unsweetened Kool-Aid, 3 tablespoons oil and 2 cups boiling water. Mix well, then place on a cutting board. When cool, knead with your hands. -- Jennifer G., Moraga

KOOL-AID PLAY DOUGH: Mix 1 cup flour, half-cup salt and 2 teaspoons cream of tartar in a medium saucepan. Mix 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid (or a few drops of food coloring) in a glass measuring cup and pour into the saucepan. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon while cooking over medium heat until the mixture forms a ball. Place on a cutting board. When cool, knead with your hands. -- Anonymous

Here are some more tips:

LEAKY DIAPERS: Our baby's diaper leaked during the night, so we stuck a cloth diaper inside the next-size disposable diaper. -- S.H., Milwaukie, Ore.

NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE POSITIVE: Catch your children in the act of doing something right or helpful, even if it's something as trivial as clearing their plate from the table. Tell them you appreciate it! Make a conscious effort to notice the positive things they do and focus on those. -- Phyllis A., Papillion, Neb. CALM, CLEAR AND QUICK DISCIPLINE: Most teens learn that if they argue long enough, they'll eventually get their way by wearing you down. The best discipline is explained clearly and administered calmly. This strategy has worked well with my teens. -- L.H., Windsor

E-mail tom@kidtips.com.