When the opportunity arose through Blog Match to review Play Foam, I loved the sound of it so I immediately requested a pack. Learning Resources explain :
"What makes Playfoam so GREAT!
- Completely mess free; does not stick to hands, clothes or carpet
- Use again and again; never dries out
- Non-toxic formula offers safe creative play
- No preparation needed; use straight from the box
- Promotes sensory perception and fine motor skill development
- Colours do not blend; mix the vibrant colours to create new multicoloured shades"
Hmmm sounds almost too good to be true ! Well, when the pack arrived, I must admit, I inwardly groaned. Mess-free is not the word to spring to mind and I had visions of it getting absolutely everywhere and being a real pain to hoover up afterwards as it squished and stuck to the floor ! But surprisingly, I was pleasantly surprised. It looks like tiny balls of coloured polystyrene but it's a weird sticky texture that the kids love squishing into shapes. It's sticky to the touch but doesn't stick to the carpet or your fingers or leave any sticky residue so it is really easy to clean up. It does however stick to any fluff/dog hair/crumbs that may be lying around on the floor/table/wherever the kids are playing so it would be a good idea to get a big plastic bowl, tray or sheet to keep it clean.
Here are some of the models that Playfoam suggest you could try to make :
Looks great, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately, the Madhouse Mini Testers mixed all the colours up into one big multicoloured mess ! The colours don't blend (which they were expecting, being used to Play Doh/Moon Sand/ Moon Dough) so they were surprised to see that you get a rainbow mishmash of all the separate colours. They think it looks quite cool but there's no way of using separate colours now !
I'm ashamed to say, I haven't got a single photo of the kids' creations because I kept saying I'd wait until they made something recognisable and it never happened ! They did have great fun squishing it about though. At the end of the play session, we scooshed it all into a ball and I popped it in a bag. It really doesn't dry out - the next time we came back to play with it, it was ready to go, just the way we'd left it, which is better than Play Doh which always goes rock hard when the kids forget to put the lids back on the little pots !
If you're intrigued, head over to the Learning Resources UK Facebook page where there is a competition running with the chance to win one of five Playfoam packs. Don't hang about though, the competition closes on the 7th June.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £9
for more information : http://www.learningresources.co.uk/category/teachers/shop+by+brand/playfoam/messfreeplayfoam.do?code=BM-PLAYFOAM13&dm_i=17PJ,1GO72,6Q5QHY,4YVO7,1
Disclosure : We received a pack of Playfoam in order to write an honest review.
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this lookks good fun, even though the colours end up strange, to put it politely!
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