6 Ways This Craft-y Activity Can Save Your Life (And Have You Reliving Your Childhood).

If you’re one of those parents who thinks they don’t need any help when it comes to the parenting game and would rather sing to their child on a 5-hour flight than give them something to entertain themselves with, please stop reading.

If, however, you’re like 99.999% of us and realize that sometimes you could use a little help getting by as a parent: Welcome. You are our people.

Kids don’t really care when it’s socially acceptable to be quiet. And they sure don’t see anything wrong with doing somersaults in the middle of a waiting room or at the booth at the restaurant you’re dining at. But they’re just kids. They’re usually not trying to be little terrors — they just need a little direction and an outlet to express all their energy and creativity.

That’s why many find Play-Doh compound to be a life-saving parent hack that you’re going to want to take with you to ALL THE PLACES. When you could use a little help keeping the kids occupied (while also encouraging your wee ones’ imagination) you need to have this craft staple in your life. It makes learning and play lots of fun — so much so that your kids won’t know they’re also making you look like Mom of the Year.

Here are six times Play-Doh toys will save your life as a parent:

1. When You’re Dining Out

Why does it seem to take forever for the food to arrive? Or is it just that the minutes are crawling by because your children have decided that now is a good time to investigate the restaurant floor underneath your table? Bring a few cans with you and let your kids make anything their little hearts desire. Then smile smugly at your partner because your kids are angels and you deserve to win every parenting award there is.

2. Two Words: Road Trips

If you’re worried about the mess, let us assure you that dried up Play-Doh vacuums up REALLY easily. Get a little tray top and give your kid some to play with on a long car ride and the number of times you hear “When are we going to get there?” will be cut down by 84%*.

*Totally made this up, but still.

3. When You’re Rained In

Filling long days indoors with endless activities is exhausting. You don’t need to add to your mental load. Hand a few cans to your kids and let them have fun while also developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and sparking creativity.

4. Sick Days

Even when your kids are sick, they seem to have more energy than most people. Why don’t they want to sleep and watch movies for eight hours? That sounds like perfection to us. Play-Doh toys are awesome because they are a quiet activity that can be done without exerting a lot of energy, so their little bodies can work on getting better.

5. In Waiting Rooms

When you’re a kid, waiting is 100% more torture-filled when you’re told to keep quiet while waiting. If you’d like your little ones to keep it down a notch while also using their imagination: a can of Play-Doh. In your purse. You’re welcome.

6. Early Mornings

Sometimes you just need a quiet cup of coffee before you get into making all the breakfasts and wiping the bums and helping them with every little thing they need you for. This is our favorite hack. Give the kids a couple of cans of compound to play with, sit down, and drink that coffee while it’s hot, baby. You deserve it.

This post is brought to you by Hasbro, but the opinions are our own.

Play-Doh Compound is the #1 craft brand, with over 500 million cans produced each year. Urban legend has it that if you took all the Play-Doh compound created since 1956 and put it through the Play-Doh FUN FACTORY playset, it would make a snake that would wrap around the world 300 times.