Hasbro PlayDoh In The Night Garden Playset
Spend a little doh to impress your Night Garden fans - Hasbro PlayDoh In The Night Garden Playset Art / Craft

Product Type: Hasbro Art / Craft

Newest Review: ... it all back to me, those hours of endless fun The set includes 3 sized tubs of Doh, there is moldings on the bridge, an Upsy Daisy b... more

Spend a little doh to impress your Night Garden fans
Hasbro PlayDoh In The Night Garden Playset

Happyjaw

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:

Hasbro PlayDoh In The Night Garden Playset

Date: 12/11/08, updated on 13/11/08 (235 review reads)

Rating:

Advantages: Everything you need to play, all in one box

Disadvantages: Some silly pieces of equipment which are difficult to use

I spotted this in Boots Christmas gift selection and chose it to give to my twins for their birthday and since Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on I found other gifts in there too.
This particular set is £13 which surprised me at first, most Play Doh items are cheap and £13 is comparatively terribly expensive but my twins do love play dough and In The Night Garden so it seemed like a winning combination.

So, a few days after their birthday we finally found time to open the box and explore the contents, much to my girls desperate excitement.

Initially there is a flat 'island' of plastic into which you fit the bridge, the bush and the merry go round so the toy becomes entirely 3D and much more visually interesting.
In separate parts you find one large and two small tubs of Play Doh, each relating to the three main characters, bright pink for Upsy Daisy, light blue for Iggle Piggle and beige for Macca Pacca (how it pains me to write those names).
There is also a glossy cardboard back card with the Haa Hoos as back drop which slots into tiny grooves at the back of the base.

Upsy Daisys bed is a separate piece too and there the first of the really clever parts unfold.
The bed opens up on a hinge and inside is a mould of Upsy Daisy. If you press your Play Doh into the mould and press it closed it creates a perfect figure of Upsy Daisy with fine details such as face and hair and patterns on her clothing. However, it needs a very firm press to shed off the excess and cut out the shape properly.

At the back of the island is Iggle Piggles red blanket, hinged to the plastic base and features the mould for Iggle Piggle hidden beneath it, again needing a good hard squeeze to create the shape without extra pieces of dough around all the edges.

Under the bridge runs the path to Macca Paccas house where you find his mould and on the flat surface there are single sided moulds for various vehicles and characters, notably the Tombliboos which presses out in good shape but only one sided which I thought was a shame.

The bridge features a single sided mould of the Ninky Nonk (or is it the Pinky Ponk, the train one... the Ninky Nonk I think) but because of the bridge rails it is terribly difficult to pull the dough out of the shape in one piece and without spoiling it.
My daughters fared no better and I felt it was quite disappointing that one of their favourite shapes was therefore quite useless in the grand scheme of things.

The merry go round, upon which all the characters sing and dance at the end of each episode is another disappointment, the exterior is a hollow tube with figures cut out of the plastic sides and the idea is that you press the top of the roof down which in turn presses the dough out. By turning the top you should achieve cut out figures through the sides but I feel it was woefully badly designed. As you press the dough down it ceases to meet the height of the figure so the creation emerges minus a head as you press ever further down.
Even with success it is complex for my children at age 3, afficionados of playdough as I like to make my own.

My kids really loved the whole set, even with faults. We put the back drop back in the box because it got in the way when pressing out Iggle Piggle from his mould but otherwise found the set kept their attention for over an hour. Which, as many people will know, is practically impossible for a 3 year old.

The plastic is quite robust and will withstand plenty of toddler use and twin arguments too I think. A toy with some few years of use I would estimate.

When I put it away I found the clip in elements more difficult to remove and decided to leave them in place rather than break the clips, so, if doesn't fit back in the box. For me that's not a problem, we have lots of playdough kit and it will just join all ours but for some this could be slightly tedious. A small sacrifice though considering the attention it received.

Therefore, I would say, though the toy has its faults it is still worth buying. Though I wouldn't buy it at full price, I'm really glad I got my 3 for 2 offer at Boots.

Summary: A playset with some glitches but still worth buying, particularly for ITNG fans