Timberdoodle: Bucket of Bubber

Mel's Thoughts:
What is Bubber, you may ask?  Bubber was actually imported from Sweden and is now sold by Timberdoodle.  Bubber is a type of modeling compound that is very lightweight, colorful, and fun to squish around in your hands.  Honestly, it'd be a great stress reliever.  It has an aroma, similar to Playdoh too, that honestly doesn't smell bad.  It comes in a 4-oz. bucket with a convenient carry handle.  You can get it in several different colors, including blue, green, purple, red, white, or yellow.  We actually got the green, and it's a really bright,
almost fluourescent shade of green.

When we first got our bucket, I was really excited.  Jacob loves playing around with Moonsand and Playdoh, so I knew he was going to love this.  As he was playing with it, he actually mentioned that it felt warm.  It has the consistency that makes you just want to sit and squish it around in your hand; it almost feels like a squishy form of styrofoam, only much more squishy.  He enjoyed building his castle, but he did mention a couple of times how it was hard to release the Bubber from the castle molds, which we also received.  He tried different methods, but the Bubber is very crumbly.  We had the tools to go with it, and he took advantage of those.  I actually used the mirett, and it was fun to use, sliding it across places where I wanted to slice the Bubber off.  He used the spoon-knife, along with the castle molds to build his little castle.  

As a mama, this is a very fun product for the kids.....for Jaden, who is not quite 2, it just wasn't something I was willing to bring him in on.  For one thing, I was afraid that he'd just want to eat it....plus the messy part kinda got me too.  This was a naptime art project.  The Bubber is very crumbly, and it tends to cling to surfaces, so when Jacob was done, he had it, not only all over himself, but all over the table and the floor.  It was not fun to clean up.  So, that was one drawback for me.  For kids, though, they don't really think about all that stuff, and Jacob had fun with it.  It kept him occupied for over an hour, which is really something for him.  It would be very useful, especially, in a homeschooling setting for special needs children, a setting in which they could work with their hands and develop motor and coordination skills.  It is also non-toxic and gluten-free.  You can pick up the 4-oz. bucket for $10.50.  The tools I mentioned range in price from $.95-$4.95.  In my opinion, it is a very affordable toy.  Want to see more Timberdoodle?

Melissa J.'s Thoughts:

Bubber is fun! *laughing*  That's the short version of my review.

The longer version is:  It's like sand in a sandbox. You want to just keep touching it and playing with it because it's an absolutely fascinating material. The cool thing about the product though, is it doesn't dry out like Playdough, so it's reusable for quite awhile.

My daughter is 2 and thought it was great, even though it's not geared for her age range. I can't wait to let my 4 year old daycare kid have a go at it.

I really like how the Bubber has the potential to come hand-in-hand with castle molds and sculpting tools. Even my husband wanted to play when he saw those. ;-)  Bubber is like a soft, smooth, silky Playdough, only it's dry. It's actually very fascinating and I can't help but wonder what it's made of. Inquiring minds want to know.

The only down side to Bubber is how crumbly it is. Because it is a dry substance, it crumbles everywhere when being played with. Of course, that could be the age of the child playing with it, but still, I played with it too, and had the same problem.

Despite the crumble-effect, it's a product I would definitely buy, both for my household and for gifts for other children. It gets a two thumbs up from me as a reusable and captivating "toy" for children.



(Disclosure: We were provided with these free products by Timberdoodle.)