Oh dough! Ready Steady Dough review

I have written previously about how I used to have a tidy house.
It wasn’t an instagrammable house but it was neat.
Everything had a place.
Then Seth.

Now our house spends most of it’s time between shambles and gas explosion.

I have kind  of come to terms with the fact that no matter how many times a day I vacuum, one child or other will eat something whilst apparently using the rug as a plate.

No matter how much I remind them to colour on the paper, one will ‘accidentally’ draw on the tablecloth.

Like moths to a flame, they are drawn to a clean window with mucky hands.

I can ask them to concentrate until the cows come home but one will pee on the floor.
To be fair that’s entirely Seth – top tip, don’t get exciting Marvel wall paper for the toilet. It’s distracting.

Regardless as to how many times I clean this place will always look semi-destroyed.

Part of my vain attempt to stop the mess was the complete avoidance of ‘craft’ activities.
We do colouring and that’s it.

I know, I know. I am a bad parent and hindering their creativity blah, blah, blah.
But the mess!
Glitter all over the place, stickers stuck where stickers shouldn’t be.
Oranges painted purple and the red paint brush in the yellow paint.

My tiny mind couldn’t cope with such destruction!

My plan had been working rather successfully until recently.

Seth started pre-school and discovered play dough.
He loves it, it’s his favourite thing and so we had to have it at home.

As I looked around the living room I had vacuumed 20 minutes before, I noted the biscuit crumbs trodden into the rug already.
I realised I am fighting a losing battle.

It’s been a long while since I’ve spent ages on my hands and knees scraping trodden in coloured dough from the strands in the rug.
I have little better to do.
Let’s get some play dough. 

Enter The Nick Jr Ready Steady Dough Super Dough set (catchy huh), with 16 different coloured doughs there’s enough to satiate the boy’s kneads (I went there).

I’ll be honest, I was still a bit down on the idea but once the set arrived I was quite impressed.

Along with the vast quantities of dough, there are 26 alphabet stamps, shape cutters, a squeezy shape machine (probably not the technical term), a rolling pin and other dough prodding implements.
52 pieces in total, more than enough to keep both Seth and Aoife entertained.

Seth is happy with his dough set. All the pieces are big enough that he can use them largely unaided, though I am always on hand to make a square on request.
The letter stamps are really good as he is starting with phonics at pre-school so we can indulge in a bit of funducation!

The doughs can also be blended to create new colours which also pleases my colour obsessed brain greatly.

Maybe it’s an age thing or maybe I underestimated him but Seth is also playing with less mess than anticipated.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a miracle but there’s no dough on the rug yet!
It seems my fears were unfounded. Half of me wishes I’d got him the set earlier, time will tell.

If you knead to mould your child’s creativity this Christmas then doughn’t wait a minute longer. (So, so sorry, I couldn’t help myself)

The Super Duper Dough set is available from The Entertainer toy shop and is currently half price at £12.50!
An absolute bargain considering everything that comes in the box.

Addo provided the  Nick Jr Ready Steady Dough Super Duper Dough set for purpose of review. As always, all opinions are my own.
I feel I should point out that my children do do fun and crafty stuff, just not messy stuff. I am not THAT bad a parent. Honest. Just ask them!