Product Review of Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe
Play-Doh Toy Fuels Imaginative Play with Lots of Options
Feb 11, 2009
Play-Doh has been a go-to rainy-day toy for decades, and the Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe is among the latest products in Hasbro’s arsenal for parents looking to keep kids busy.
Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe Basics
Hasbro’s Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe sells for $10 and up at most major retailers and online stores. This toy is recommended for children ages 3 and up. The Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe comes with four cans of Play-Doh, one of which is a special “sprinkle” Play-Doh that is white and has glitter pieces in it. The set includes two plastic ice-cream cones, two clear plastic ice-cream dishes, two spoons, one “serving” spoon and one cake mold. Set up before use involves snapping three different parts into the base: the sprinkle maker, the ice-cream dispenser and the whipped-cream maker.
How to Play with the Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe
There are several different ways children can play with the Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe. Children can load the ice-cream dispenser with Play-Doh, push down on the plunger and dispense ice cream into the cones or cups. Both snap into the base below the dispenser and turn automatically as the plunger is pressed. There are two choices for which shape ice-cream comes out of the dispenser.
Children can put Play-Doh in the sprinkle maker, twist on the crank and then turn the handle to make “sprinkles” to add to their ice-cream cones or sundaes. They can also load Play-Doh into a whipped cream maker that requires pushing a plunger down to force star-shaped "whipped cream" out the bottom. In addition to ice cream, whipped cream and sprinkle makers, there are miniature food molds all over the toy. Children can make cookies, candies, rolls and more simply by pressing Play-Doh into the molds.
Ice Cream Shoppe is Great for Imaginative Play
The Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe is a very reasonably priced toy that comes with several accessories. There are enough accessories for more than one child to play at a time and there are three different play areas. All these choices make for a toy that can hold children’s attention. When they become bored with one part they can move on to another, or pretend they are making snakes. The variety of food molds adds to the imaginative fun.
Children Ages 3 and Up May Need Adult Help
Although the Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe is a great toy for imaginative play, there are a few parts of the product that could be improved. For example, there are many miniature food molds, but they are extremely tiny. Younger children may have a hard time handling the molded foods without mashing them since they are so small.
Small children may also have a hard time pressing the plunger on the ice-cream dispenser without standing on a chair. The toy stands rather tall off a table and leverage is required to push the plunger. The large size also makes it a challenge to organize the toy and supplies.
Although the toy is recommended for children as young as 3 years old, the sprinkle maker is a sophisticated toy for children so young. Loading the Play-Doh is easy, but the crank has to be screwed on to make sprinkles. Perhaps most challenging for young children to understand is that the part that pushes the Play-Doh down into the sprinkle maker has to be unscrewed to the uppermost position to screw on the crank. While children should be supervised while playing, busy parents who rely on Play-Doh to keep kids occupied while preparing dinner may find themselves stopping often to help attach the sprinkle maker’s crank.
The Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe works best with very fresh Play-Doh, but the sprinkle maker turns Play-Doh into little bits that dry out quickly. Children who play with the toy for an hour or more may find much of the Play-Doh needs to be discarded because it has dried. And the Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe is not a good choice for parents who like to keep the Play-Doh colors from mixing. Topping ice-cream with whipped cream, cranking out sprinkles and making food molds all encourage mixing the Play-Doh colors.
The Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe is a toy that encourages extensive imaginative play in children but may require adult help for younger kids.
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