Sunday, October 18, 2009

Timberdoodle's Bubber!

{Disclosure: This is a Mama Buzz Review. The product was provided by Timberdoodle for this review. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer for Mama Buzz, please visit their site!}

So, the title is a mouthful, huh?

I recently had the opportunity to experiment with Bubber in my classroom - a pretty swell modeling product offered by Timberdoodle. The best way to describe Bubber is as a combination of playdoh and marshmallow - if that makes any sense! It's texture is smooth, but somewhat grainy, it's weightless (almost as if you're sculpting with a less-sticky marshmallow), and it holds its shape similar to playdoh. Bubber has the ability to be maniupulated in many different ways - pushed, pulled, squished, cut, imprinted, stretched, and sculpted.

It's a perfect addition to any tactile learning center and it will guarantee to fascinate your students and/or children - even just grasping it tightly in their hands over and over was entertaining! My kiddos absolutely adored it and continued to squish and squash it thoroughly during their visit at the creation station. They loved the different molds sent with my 5 oz bucket of Bubber and quickly learned how to use the Mirett to shave and cut into this silly substance.

Now, while I did think it was a pretty cool product, and one I might be interested in using further in my classroom, I did notice some negative aspects. If you're planning on having multiple users, it may become dirty quickly. The color I was sent - yellow - would likely turn dingy pretty fast in my classroom of 23 students if used daily, especially when using their tables as a play space. Thus, if I was ordering it again, I would choose a darker color, like the purple or blue that Timberdoodle offers. (I had no choice in color for this review.)

Also, the Bubber I was sent was kind of crumbly, and didn't hold together quite as well as other modeling substances might. I'm not sure if this is the nature of the product or what, but it does say on the website description that it "never dries out," so I was kind of concerned about that. I'm all about quick and easily clean up, and found that several bits wound up on the floor - which is not good for clean-up and wastes the product.

Overall, it was a very unique product that held the interest of my students during their morning center activities. I would recommend this product to teachers and parents alike, as all children will find this substance play-worthy and a great alternative to the run-of-the-mill playdoh. Heck, my husband and I even enjoyed it :)

Here's some more information on the product, provided by Timberdoodle:

Cost
Bubber = $10.50
Castle Molds = $4.95
Mirett = $2.95
Spoon/Knife = $.95

Ages
Timberdoodle recommends kindergarten and up - but I think that as long as they child playing with it knew to keep it out of his/her mouth and was supervised, they would be fine :)

[Pictures to come!]

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