Children and Imaginary Play

Holiday Gift Guide – Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun

PLAY-DOH HELPS KIDS MAKE MAGIC THIS CHRISTMAS

Cover art for Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun
Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun, by Susan Amerikaner with art by Kara Kenna, Silver Dolphin Books, 2013.

Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun, written by Susan Amerikaner and illustrated and digitally composed by Kara Kenna (Silver Dolphin Books, $14.95; Ages 3 and up), is reviewed today by Rita Zobayan.

Christmas is upon us, which undoubtedly means presents. Why not combine two perennial kid favorites—Play-Doh and books—and delight the youngsters in your life? Silver Dolphin Books and Hasbro have done exactly that. The Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun set includes four cans of Play-Doh, a plastic knife and roller, and 15 projects wrapped into a 32-page activity book.

Santa is on his way to Jolly Town, and Penguin, Cat, and Dog need your help to get the town ready! Help them prepare a tree, a candy cane, a bow, advent candle, a stocking and 10 more fun, Christmas-themed items. Each project is presented in three easy-to-follow steps with accompanying photographs.  Then the project is highlighted in the two-page spread artwork.

Time for presents! Let’s make one.

1. Shape two square in any colors you like. Make one thinner than the other. Then make five small rolls.

2. Put the thin square on top of the bigger one. Flatten the rolls into strips and fold them over. Roll out several tiny round pieces.

3. Use the folded strips to make a bow. Make a ball for the middle of the bow. Decorate with the tiny round pieces.

This gift is ready to go under the tree! Great job! Maybe next year you can work at the North Pole!

The artwork consists of Play-Doh figures on a backdrop. They’re fun and inviting scenes. See the cozy fireplace where you can hang your stockings. Step into Mrs. Claus’ kitchen where she’s busy baking gingerbread cookies, with your help, of course! Watch the snowflakes cover the trimmed tree!

Create some Christmas memories with the Play-Doh Christmas Craft Fun activity book and set.

 

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Imagine All The Fun

51y8ExSkxHL._SL500_AA300_ Molly Lou Melon is a little girl with big hair and a gigantic imagination. This second book in the Molly Lou Melon series, Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon, (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $16.99, Ages 4-7)  is all about making the most of playtime. Molly Lou has a toy chest overflowing with all the toys any child could want, but her grandmother tells her how things were in the olden days when there weren’t a lot of fancy toys and action figures to play with. Back then kids made toys themselves out of things they found laying around and out of their imaginations.

So Molly Lou Melon takes what she learns from her grandmother and fills her playtime with magical tree houses and hand painted boxcars. And instead of watching TV, she watches the wondrous clouds while lying in the grass and finds endless hours of entertainment there. One day Molly Lou invites her new neighbor, Gertie over to play. Gertie brings her fancy dollhouse to show her new friend, while Molly Lou shows Gertie her tree root palace.  Can these new friends agree on how they will play together? Fancy toys or imaginative ones?

The glorious illustrations by David Catrow in this fantastic book are just as imaginative as Molly Lou Melon herself. They are colorful and wispy and full of great detail. Your child will enjoy examining every single page and lingering a while. What you’ll appreciate most about this book is that both the illustrations and the words by author/teacher Patty Lovell will inspire your children to get creative for playtime. And they might just ask you to lie on a blanket with them outside and look up at the clouds for a while to see what you can see. What could possibly be better than that?

large_stand-tall-molly-lou-melon_001If you love this book, as I know you will, check out the first book in the series, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, also by Patty Lovell and David Catrow.

-Reviewed by Debbie Glade

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