Organizing Play-Doh: An Interview with a 4 Year Old

It feels like on the very day that my daughter turned three years old she became obsessed with Play-Doh.  It is one of the few activities that would keep her entertained for more than 5 minutes.  Which means that Play-Doh is my favorite invention in the whole wide world.  The only down side is the clean up.  There are so many Play-Doh accessories and tools that I noticed we ended up playing with the Play-Doh less often because of the time required to clean up afterwards.  We were always losing accessories, finding little Play-Doh balls on the floor or in our dog's mouth.  And of course the most common problem of all; lidless, dried out Play-Doh that went straight into the trash.

A couple months back we were visiting our cousins at their home.  They have a very nice house and two toddlers that are very close in age.  I assumed this would result in a completely chaotic house but their playroom was very well organized with bins and containers for everything.  They even have a small table with the main purpose of using for playing with Play-Doh.  I love it!  Having a Play-Doh station in the play area would help avoid the hassle of finding Play-Doh all over the house and having to lug everything down from the closet to the dining room table each time my daughter wants to play.  But I still needed to figure out how to keep all the parts in one place.  Sounds like a job for a organizing container!!

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of being wasteful; with things and with money.  I like to try to find organizing solutions within my house before going out to the store.  Though I do love having an excuse to go to Home Goods.  I took a quick look around my house and was able to find a small three drawer organizer. 

The tools and accessories go in the top drawer, the mini and regular sized Play-Doh containers go in the middle drawer and the extra large containers go in the bottom drawer, laying down.  We mostly have mini and regular sized containers and I'm able to fit A LOT of Play-Doh in those drawers.  You can absolutely use a container that has deeper drawers so the larger containers can fit standing up but this container was already something we owned and does the job perfectly.

Now, as I write this post, my daughter keeps telling me that she wants to help me "text" (her generation's word for type).  Ever since I found her in my food storage container cabinet "organizing", I've wanted to involve her in the blog in some way so why not now.  I present to you, an interview with a four year old Play-Doh aficionado.

How do we organize Play-Doh?

First we play with it.

Then what happens?

We just put it back in the container and put the top on so it doesn't get old.  We put it in the Play-Doh drawers.

What is your favorite thing to do with Play-Doh?

Cut.  What else?  Scissors.

Why do you love playing with Play-Doh?

I like to play with it and then put it back. (The apple doesn't fall far...)

What is your favorite color of Play-Doh?

Yellow, red, orange, green, and purple.  Not blue?  No.

What does Play-Doh smell like?

Yummy.

Anything else you want to say about Play-Doh?

I worry about the Play-Doh.  Why?  You text, I'm going to go potty.

And there you have it.  Organizing Play-Doh from the perspective of a four year old.  So what is the point my daughter is trying to make? When it comes to toys that have a million pieces and/or are very messy, it helps to have a dedicated area to store the various components of the activity and a dedicated space to play. If your children are like mine, they are like a squirrel storing little pieces of Play-Doh in every nook and cranny they find, to prepare for the long winter ahead.  This way we at least keep the hiding spots to one area of the house and hopefully keep Play-Doh out of our shoes and purse.