If you're a parent who has even been on Pinterest and looked for activities for your child, you've probably seen at least a dozen different recipes for modeling clay or sensory dough, as it's sometimes called. Most of the recipes are different variations on the mixture of flour, water and salt dough I remember using to make Christmas ornaments. So, one morning this week, I was searching for a recipe for my son. I spent a good 20 minutes making it, mixing in different colors, getting just the right proportions of flour to water to coconut oil so it wouldn't stick to my hands or leave a greasy mess, only to have my son pick it up, drop it on the cat, and decide he was done with it. 20 minutes of making it, only to have it covered in cat hair after a minute or so.

After all that, I threw away the dough I had made and added today's topic to the shopping list partially because it was easier to keep in the house and more convenient.

I'm your host, Emily Prokop, and this is The Story Behind Play-Doh.

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Media:

• Music for Makers

Sources:

• Play-Doh - National Toy Hall of Fame
• The History of Play-Doh: Good, Clean Fun! - Museum of Play
• Who Invented Play Dough? - Woderopolis
• 10 Fun Facts About Play-Doh - Mental Floss
• Play-doh Was Originally Wallpaper Cleaner - Today I Found Out
• 9 Things Invented or Discovered by Accident - How Stuff Works
• Playmakers Part II: Play-Doh - Parents' Choice
• Play-Doh can fake your fingerprint - CNET
• The shocking story behind Playdoh's original purpose - Business Insider

Referenced:

• Ice Cream Float Wikipedia Page