Customer Reviews

Moon Sand Amusement Park Carrying Case

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My 3.5 year old asked for this from Santa after seeing the commercial on Nickelodeon (one more reason to watch PBS) and although the toy is great, the Moon Sand is incredibly messy and dangerous for my 6-month old to be around (saw the warning to flush eye with water if sand particles get in...hope I'll never have to heed it!) Anyway, after one time of playing with the moon sand (which got all mixed together the first play) and vacuuming like crazy afterward, we just decided to use it with play-doh and that seems to work great. The concept is really cute... she especially likes the little seat belts for the people.

My son really wanted this for Christmas, so I bought it despite reservations. I knew it would be a mess, but I had heard it was less messy than Play-doh. I disagree. Because Moon Sand is granular, it does sweep up better than Play-doh, but it gets everywhere. The colors are imposssible to keep separate, so it ends up getting mixed into a weird gray color (same as modeling clay). But the molded creations don't hold together worth a darn, and there is limited functionality here. I personally enjoy molding things from clay and think it's a more creative and educational activity than forming pre-fab molded items. There are limits to what you can do with molds versus creating free-form.

Don't buy this item its really a mess and its tough on kids to build what its shown in the picture. The moon sand doesn't hold strong enough as compared to play doh.

Have to agree with other reviewer 100% - this thing is a mess! It never seemed like it would get soft or pliable enough to be the way it describes itself.

Not to mention the lame carrying case and contents. There were only 2 colors (which, now I'm grateful about considering its messy qualities). And the other pieces were just....LAME! It held my kid's attention for all of 3 mins as I TRIED to get him excited about it. Instead, it's just another cheap toy that's going into the dollar bin at the next garage sale.

We have several different Moon Sand kits, and we love them. We have this one, and also the Castle oneMoon Sand Royal Castle, and the dinosaur oneMoon Sand Dinos. It's fun because it's like playing with sand at the beach, only way better because it doesn't stick to your skin, and molds better than regular sand.

Last year when we got our first Moon Sand kit, we used a big cookie sheet (Texas sheet cake) pan with raised edges to do our projects in, so it wouldn't spill into areas we didn't want it to. This year, however, the Royal Castle moon sand kit comes with this cleverly-designed little tray. It is rubbery, and has a nozzle to blow up the edges (like a raft), so that you have little walls around your play area (about an inch high all around). It makes it a lot easier.

The only drawback I'd say with the moon sand is that if you want to do multi-colored creations, it's hard to then separate the colors when you're done. But there's no way to avoid that.

I would think the age of the child playing with it would make a huge difference in how much you like this. Kids 4 and up know enough not to put it in their mouths or throw it, etc. Under that I wouldn't try it.

I should also mention that these have been big hits as gifts at birthday parties, etc. Hope this helps someone decide!

Oh, and here are a couple other tips for you: the moon sand comes in plastic bags that are not re-sealable. So when we are done with the moon sand, we store it in Play-Doh containers. And we also use lots of the molds for Play-Doh kits to make other things with the Moon Sand. We even use cookie cutters with the moon sand! It's lots of fun. I guess you can tell the kids aren't the only ones playing with it....we have fun building things right alongside the kids!

Whoever came up with Moon Sand should be shot. It is a huge mess! Go with Play-Doh, Modelling Clay, anything but Moon Sand.

My kids love this moon sand, but it is very messy. We will not be purchasing this stuff in the future.

I think it's so much cleaner than the alternatives. I bought a cheap, long storage container at Target (the kind that you use to store sweaters and shoes under the bed) and filled it up with several Moon Sand kits and refills. I leave it on my front stoop or on the lawn. Whatever excess sand gets on the kids, just brushes off. Most of the negative reviews talk about how messy this is (I think Moon Dough is waaay messy; Play Doh is what it is), but I am a neat freak and if you take the sand outside, it's the cleanest of the bunch.

Kids LOVE it. And there have been plenty of Saturdays this spring where I just had all the neighbors kids and my kid gathered around it on the front lawn, making stuff, and I sat on a lawn chair nearby enjoying the weather, an iced tea, and a novel. I initially bought the set because of the sensory input the sand would provide my ASD daughter, but I just see what a wonderful toy it is. I would recommend for anyone.

Note: If you're playing indoors on a cold or rainy day, I just take my storage container inside but spread out a large shower curtain or cheap plastic tablecloth on the ground for the kids to play on.

I got this set when it was really cheap on sale, so I don't regret the purchase. If I had paid anything more though, I probably would. Other reviewers are right in saying this is messy, that the colors combine, and that the figures don't stay together, which can be very frustrating to children playing with it.