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Crayola Safety Scissors
by mikeb2102
Due to Lily's obsession with Mr Maker, Art Attack and anything arty, I decided to buy some arts and crafts stuff for her and we regularly cut things out and gluing them onto pieces of paper, I even had her making Christmas cards for family members last year, which she loved. I thought it would be a good idea to build up an arts and ... crafts box for her Christmas. I bought some different coloured card, drawing pads, colouring books, googly eyes, crayons, PVA glue, foam, cotton wool etc and put it all in a big box and wrapped it up. One of the things I thought I would purchase, was her own set of scissors, as it has been me doing all the cutting and I thought it was about time she did her own cutting out.
== The Product ==
The pack includes two pairs of plastic safety scissors; an orange pair with a straight cutting edge and a purple pair with a serrated cutting edge (these are quite good for getting a crinkle effect on paper). The scissors are made of see through plastic and the hinge of the scissor is a yellow plastic screw. Upon first look and feel of them they seem quite flimsy in the hands of an adult, and they feel like they might break with a little heavy handedness, but then I have to remember that these are made for children 3+. Because the cutting edges are plastic, this ensures that if the child has a little accident, the worst he/she will receive is a little nip, so no worrying about your child coming up to you with blood pouring from a nasty cut, so you can feel safe enough to leave your child alone with them for a few moments. T
== Price ==
These were £4.99 including postage from amazon.co.uk, I could have probably purchased a cheaper alternative elsewhere, as these are a little expensive for what is effectively, a couple of pieces of plastic, but I trust the Crayola brand and also, I had an amazon voucher to spend.
== Verdict ==
These are great, it wasn't long before Lily was cutting her own bits of paper, card etc and sticking them onto paper to make great collages (great collages for a three year old, she ain't no Picasso yet, but we all have to start somewhere). I know she will be using scissors at school, so this is a good place to start, before moving her up to a normal pair of scissors. I still tell her to be careful with them and I tell her they are very sharp, so when she moves onto a proper pair she will know the safety aspects of using scissors properly.
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Hasbro Play-Doh
by angelboouk
My son was never been keen on doing anything that involves getting his hands sticky or dirty including using glue, paint etc. His nursery teacher had mentioned that he had become amused by Play Doh and whilst looking for bits and pieces for his Christmas stocking, I decided to buy him a few tubs of Play Doh. I always loved playing with ... Play Doh as a child and knew that both of us could have some fun with it! He has also become more interested in painting too so I was able to fill up a stocking full of crafty bits.
~Play Doh~
You can buy different brands of Play Doh but I will be focussing on the Hasbro brand which seems to be most popular and widely available. Play Doh can be purchased as part of various play sets but we own a pack of four standard tubs of Play Doh. There are various colour choices available including pastel, neon and standard colours. Play Doh is a described as being a 'non-toxic, non-staining, reusable modelling compound'. It can be used by children (or big kids) to make various objects. Play Doh is made of wheat flour, water, salt, petroleum and Borax.
Each Play Doh colour is presented in a round, yellow plastic tub. Each tub features a coloured lid which indicates the colour inside the tub and keeps the Play Doh fresh and clean. Some websites say that Play Doh is suitable from age 2 whilst others say age 3. I suppose this is down to parental evaluation. My son is 4.5yrs old and I supervise anyway so it is up to the parent.
~Price and Availability~
Hasbro Play Doh is widely available from stores including Amazon, Wilkinsons, Tesco and Toys 'r' Us. Expect to pay from £1.00 for a single tub, from £3.00 for a pack of 4 tubs and from £7.00 for the play sets. Larger value packs are also available with lots of colours included.
~Our Thoughts~
I bought our Play Doh from Wilkos and I believe I paid £3.00 for a pack of 4 x 130g tubs. Wilkos had limited colour choice so I opted for the standard 'classic' colours which included red, blue, white and yellow. It is a good way of expanding a current set. I plan on buying a few of the other colours soon though so may pay a visit to the larger Toys 'r' Us store. The play sets seem good value too and can often be found on offer. Our 4 tubs were held together with a cardboard wrapper and Boo was pleased to discover them in his Christmas stocking.
The tubs are easy to store. We usually store them in a cupboard and just bring them out whenever Boo wants to play with them. Whilst I don't feel that Play Doh would cause as much damage as that awful Plastercine to carpets, I would still recommend being careful where you use it. Boo has a plastic table set and we normally do crafts there or at his desk. The tubs do a good job at keeping the contents fresh and safe whilst not in use but the lids are often quite stiff and Boo cannot remove them on his own. I suppose this is a good thing from a safety point of view especially if you have younger children in the house.
We play with our Play Doh regularly as a change from colouring in or painting. It is a classic way to spend time and we enjoy playing with this together or Boo will happily sit and create some inventions whilst I tidy up around him. We made a safe choice with the classic colours as they are very versatile but I do feel a more varied selection is needed in our home to create more realistic models.
Each tub has a large lump of Play Doh in it and sometimes it needs a little bit of a shoogle to release it from the tub. The Play Doh itself is like a big lump of soft modelling clay and is quite moist but not damp to the touch. The different colours are very bright and vibrant which increases appeal to young children. As advised, the Play Doh doesn't stain but it does get stuck underneath long nails which leaves my hands feeling a bit 'icky'.
Play Doh is so much fun to play with and there is no limits to what you can make with it. My son finds it easy to use as he is able to pull the amount of Play Doh he needs from the lump. It moulds to various shapes very easily without breaking and is definitely child friendly and durable. It is possible to roll a piece of Play Doh into a ball or stretch it into a sausage shape. You can do anything with it as it is so easy to work with.
We have made lots of things with our Play Doh including a house, snowmen, animals and even spelled out Boos name. It isn't messy to work with and doesn't leave any sort of residue on surfaces nor does it smell strongly or bad. If joining different pieces of Play Doh together, it does take a little bit of nudging and fixing to ensure they stick together. It is very simple to pull the pieces apart again without causing any damage. We often create little 'scenes' with Play Doh people, Play Doh cakes and Play Doh tables and chairs. Usually these are left out for a while to ensure Daddy sees them when he comes home from work and they always remain in one piece and look very good indeed.
What we like about Play Doh is that if we decide we aren't keen on what we have made (which is often with a fussy 4yr old) we can just start again. The Play Doh keeps fresh and is so easy to squash back together and reshape into something different without becoming dried out or damaged. I do notice that if we have squashed different coloured pieces together than there will be some colour transfer between the bits of Play Doh but this isn't a major issue for us.
~Conclusion~
We have had so much fun playing with our Play Doh over the past few weeks. I do find that you get a lot for your money. A pack of four is so cheap given how much fun you can have with it. My son really enjoys creating new things with his Play Doh as he can let his imagination run wild. Our Play Doh is in perfect condition and the colours have remained vibrant without any fading.
We can highly recommend Play Doh and look forward to expanding our collection this year.
Thanks for reading :)
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