My daughter loves to play with Play-doh products and has been asking for the Play-Doh Perfect Twist Ice Cream maker for a while now. I finally gave in and got it for her because she’s almost 5 and was hoping that she would be able to use the ice cream maker without adult assistance. The age on the box says age 3 and up but to be honest I highly doubt many 3 year olds are going to be able to play with this. They don’t have the motor skills, patience or strength needed.
Here are my cons for this toy:
~ Difficult to use the sprinkle maker. It’s flimsy and requires a fair amount of pressure to work
~ When you push down level the ice cream shoots out while the ice cream cone swirls. We basically ended up with a huge mess.
~The cone holder is nearly impossible to get the cones out of without taking it off the machine. Our went flying more than once when trying to get a cone out.
~The little impressions are extremely hard to get the dough out of and still have the shape or impression intact.
Here are my pros this toy:
~ It does encourage imagination
~ It does help fine tune their motor skills
~ Problem solving comes in to play
~Promotes creativity
I would say this toy is more for a 6+ age group. My daughter will be 5 in a couple months and she can play with the perfect twist ice cream maker however it requires a fair amount of assistance from me or another adult. She did enjoy playing with it but I could tell she was getting frustrated having to ask me for help every few minutes. She eventually gave up playing with the perfect twist ice cream maker and just played with the cones, ice cream cups and play-doh. If I had to do this over I would not buy it again for her. She’s just not ready for it.