Owned by the toy company Hasbro, Play Doh is a brand of brightly coloured, non-poisonous, politically correct putty sold in separate tubs of varying sizes. Although there are other types of putty on the market, Play Doh is to kiddie putty as Hoover is to vacuum cleaners.
Play Doh also has obsolescence built-in - once the child has taken the putty out of the tins and started mashing it together in a marbleized, graying mess, no force on earth will return the putty back to its original solid state of colour. Therefore the parent will be forced to buy yet more tins of Play Doh.
As well as the putty itself, the brand name also sells all number of cutting, squishing and extrusion devices, all extremely fascinating for kids at that scatologically obsessed age.
For those who have not the finances to indulge their child's (or their own) Play Doh obsession, there is a cheap alternative...Pseu-Doh. A mixture of flour, a pinch of salt, several drops of food colouring and enough water kneaded together to create a smooth, non-sticky dough will suffice for Play Doh, and it doesn't matter if your child eats several bucket-loads of the stuff. (Unless they have an allergy to the above ingredients.)
Afterwards the Pseu-Doh creation can be baked in a medium oven for about twenty minutes for all perpetuity.