I am always on the look-out for new toys for Jay, and I love toys that give him room for creativity (such as his maaaany animal puppets or finger-painting sets), focus (jigsaw puzzles) and yet oodles of fun at the same time.
The good folks at Sophie & Friends sent over these two cute containers.
What might these be, you ask?
Kanten Clay Studio by Bournelund – an all-natural Japanese modelling clay. Some interesting facts I learnt about Kanten clay:
- The main component of the clay is (no surprises here) … Kanten. Kanten is also commonly known as agar-agar. Yes, the jelly we eat! So when they say “all-natural”, you can be sure they mean it.
- Other ingredients are brine and natural food colouring. The brine also plays a secondary (and very important to us parents) function – when kids put the clay in their mouths out of curiousity (and you know kids tend to do this to almost all and any household item or toy), its salty taste would make it yucky for them.
- Being all-natural, Kanten clay is also great if your kids have sensitive skin or are allergic to food colouring and other preservatives.
My first impressions:
- Kanten clay is cool to the touch, and feels plastic-ky. While Play-Doh feels moist to the touch, Kanten clay feels “dry” but yet doesn’t have the “chalkiness” feel that traditional clay does.
- In fact, when I first saw the two balls of Kanten clay, I must admit it seems a tad unmoldable. The smooth mound of Kanten clay didn’t immediately “crumble” with a little pressure (as compared to the easily-moldability of usual Play-Doh)
- And the smell. Or should I say, lack thereof. Unlike conventional clay, there’s no weird smell. In fact, it doesn’t really smell at all.
While it looked a little cold and “hard”, we peeled off a portion of the Kanten clay, and to my surprise, it came off very smoothly. The clay was extremely moldable, and Jay totally enjoyed fiddling with this clay.
He even decided to make some dino-food for Boris the T-Rex!
He rolled up little Kanten “fish-balls” and stuffed them into Boris’ mouth!
Now, I normally don’t allow him to play with his Play-Doh and other toys – as Play-Doh had the tendency to leave a residue on toys and surfaces etc. More irritatingly, it gets stuck under your fingernails, and even “stains” the nails.
The HUGE plus for Kanten clay: it doesn’t leave any residue – either on toys, on surfaces or (most importantly) under the fingernails of Mummy or child! There’s also no oily feeling on our palms or fingers.
After about 20 minutes of kneading and rolling the dough – see Ma? No clay under Mummy’s nails. (Seeing this pic also reminds me to make an appointment with my manicurist. Haha!)
Kanten clay is also mixable, and you can get a brand new colour. My two bottles were pink and white, and when mixed, it gives you a nice… light pink. Haha! As the clay is also very stretchable, mixing the two different colour clays also means there are no “colour streaks” in the mixed clay – there is an even tone throughout. Real nice!
Kanten Clay comes in 7 different bright colours – red, orange, green, blue, pink, white and
yellow - and even a 4-in-1 pack with white, yellow, red & blue.
But wait… this is the best part!
Sophie & Friends are generously giving away the Kanten Clay to not one but TWO of my readers! I know your kid will have as much fun as Jay did with this clay. So if you’d like to win for yourself a Kanten Play Clay set, comment away! Deadline is this Sunday, 3 July, 2359 hours. Two winners will be picked randomly.
You can read up more on the product here.
Have you heard? SANses has been nominated in the Best Family Blog category in the Singapore Blog Awards 2011! It’s my first time being nominated, so your vote is much appreciated! You can vote once a day from now till 3 July 2011 – so please vote now!
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