Splash the cash and dig the dough (Hasbro PlayDoh Dora the Explorer Fun Factory)

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:	Hasbro PlayDoh Dora the Explorer Fun Factory
Date:	14/11/08 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun character based play dough tools

Disadvantages: Design flaws means trapped fingers and lost dough

I bought the Dora The Explorer Fun Factory for my twins birthday gifts along with an In The Night Garden play doh product and we've played with them together, which highlights many of the differences and advantages.

I bought my gifts in 3 for 2 offers at Boots, this one was £6.00, compared to the other at £13.00 but both have variations on play and stimulus which make them worth buying.

The main feature of this plastic playset is the press, illustrated on the box as the largest item, there's a gap to pop playdough into, then press down the handle and it oozes out of the hole at the end of the press. The red strips are shape strips, each featuring cut outs such as stars, circles and triangles which when slotted in front of the front gap of the press, makes the dough ooze in interesting shapes, of course.

One of my twins quickly found the design flaw in the press by trapping her fingers in the side and found herself unable to release it, thankfully they are always supervised when playing with play dough so I could deal with it quickly. There was no major injury, just pinched skin but that was enough to make her cry. Sadly it happened more than once.
The other glitch with the press is that dough gets stuck in places difficult to retrieve it from and which serves no purpose.
The lower part of the handle is hollow and accessed through a grid support underneath, so dough ends up in all the nooks and crannies. It may have been cost effective to make but the design is not ideal for it's purpose and some dough is lost.

There's Dora stamp shape, a figure of Dora which features a raised relief stamp on the base which is great for creating quick images in the dough.

Speaking of dough, there are two small tubs, one in yellow and one in blue, not specifically Dora colours but close enough to some of the specific shades used on the characters.

Finally there's a small and very blunt knife, safe for use with toddlers but still not really ideal unless supervised.

It says suitable for ages 3+ and although it is when supervised, some of the equipment would be better for children aged around 5 in my opinion. If there was a guard on the press I would have felt it was well marketed for age but since there isn't, supervision is essential.

The play scope is fairly endless, playdough after all is an imagination and craft item, pliable to suit many purposes and huge variations of play so I don't feel that the play set is limited despite it's few pieces.

It all fits back into the cardboard box after use, which is better than the ITNG playset which required disassembly to go back in the box. Keeping it in the box means we don't lose the separate components so I was pleased to notice that it would easily fit.

At £6.00 it's a reasonable price. There are others on the market of similar designs and prices and you could put together quite an exhaustive kit of your children's favourite characters, though frankly baking equipment will entertain most children with homemade play dough.

If you decide to buy it, I'd recommend buying at Boots and taking advantage of their 3 for 2 offers and advantage card points to really make the most of it.

All in all a great product, somewhat flawed but still with great play interest.

Summary: A somewhat flawed but otherwise fun dough playset