Review: Moon Dough Fun Pack

While we've enjoyed many creative pursuits in this household, Moon Dough is something that we had yet to encounter. So when the opportunity arose to review the Moon Dough Fun Pack I was very keen. Luckily it arrived while Harry was at nursery, so I was able to unpack and photograph it without little grabby hands getting in the way! This pack contains three colours of Moon Dough along with a selection of moulds and shapers. I like arts and crafts products that come in their own storage cases, so the sturdy, compartmentalised case pleased me immensly.

Moon Dough Fun Pack in case

Moon Dough Fun Pack contents before use

The dough was not at all what I was expecting. I had assumed that it would be like play dough, but it was completely different. It's difficult to describe the texture - it's dry, very light and almost powdery but still sticks together. You need to knead the dough in the packet for a bit before you open it and if it was left for a few minutes it went hard again, although was easy to soften up. I didn't think it was too messy, and it wouldn't stain anything. It does break up into tiny pieces but you can just pick them all up fairly easily with a larger piece of dough.

A good selection of moulds are provided to shape the dough. The lid of the case contains some shapes to press the dough into, then there are a few separate moulds. The moulds on the lid were a little difficult to press out as it wasn't very flexible, and Harry needed help with all the moulds. Perhaps an older child could  manage on their own. Harry was absolutely fascinated with the moulding process, the moulds are really intricate, and the details all came out beautifully.

The moulded creations are really sturdy and could easily be used for playing with on their own, they held their shape really well. Harry's favourite was the pizza mould which comes with a special cutter for cutting it into pieces. He did this over and over!

The Moon Dough is perhaps slightly limited in that it's difficult to use it to make anything apart from the moulds provided. It doesn't really roll out, but if you flatten it with something (there is a flattening tool provided or just use your hands) you can use play dough cutters to cut out shapes and use other play dough tools to decorate it.

Pressing the dough into the mould

In the interests of a full review I overcame my natural instinct to keep the colours separate and allowed Harry to mix up two of the colours. Once you've mixed the colours there's no going back, but they don't mix immediately so you have a nice marbled effect.

Some of our finished creations

My only negative point is that I felt the packaging didn't make it clear exactly what was included. Although the exact contents are listed out, the photographs show children playing with a lot more dough than is included in the pack. Also despite stating in two places that 20 tools for the dough are included I could only count 18, which includes the 10 moulds on the lid.

Having said that, I do think that what is included in the kit is extremely good value for money. It's certainly something that we'll be playing with again. It isn't an alternative to play dough as I originally thought, it is very different.

This pack is aimed at boys and girls aged 3-5 years, and Harry is 3. It is available to purchase from Argos, Tesco, The Entertainer, Smyths and ELC among others. It retails for around £10-15.

Disclaimer - I received the Moon Dough Fun Pack to review. This opportunity was provided through www.blog-match.com