Floof

We have a big bin of arts and crafts supplies at our house, including lots of modeling substances – clay, playdough, sand – which are all used on a regular basis for hands-on sensory play. When we got the opportunity to try out the newest product called Floof, my children couldn’t wait for it to arrive.

Floof, or “Indoor Snow,” the newest from Play Visions (maker of Sands Alive!), is a safe, water-soluble and non-toxic play substance. The pure white moldable compound “looks like snow, feels like marshmallows, molds like clay, and can be reused every single day” according to Play Visions. It is very light with a smooth, soft surface, and easy to mold/shape.

Another great feature of Floof that I appreciate is how easy it is to clean up. The compound mainly stays in pieces big enough to pick up, but a damp paper towel cleaned up anything else left behind. Play Visions has created several cute playsets for Floof, including Mr. and Mrs. Snowman, Polar Babies, Snowball Maker, S’more Party and Sunny Day Cloud.

The Floof set we got to try out was the Mr. and Mrs. Snowman. It comes in a plastic, airtight bucket, complete with 120 grams of Floof (enough to easily make the two snowmen with leftovers), three different size sphere molds to make the snow people and lots of cute accessories to decorate with.

Our first impression when we opened the bucket was unfortunately negative – the smell was overwhelming and not in a good way. It seems to wear off eventually, or you get used to it, but it still has a bit of a chemical odor. This didn’t slow us down too much though, and the kids dug right in to the Floof.

As advertised, it feels just like a marshmallow (though not sticky!). It was easily stuffed in the molds and created solid balls to create our snowpeople. It’s a bit challenging to stack the balls on top of each other (they don’t really stick together), but pressing them slightly seemed to do the trick temporarily. It is marketed that you can stack Floof “to the roof,” but I can’t quite figure out how you would do that without it falling.

The best part was decorating. The set came with two “coal” eyes, carrot nose, four buttons for each (black and pink), scarves and hats. Each of my children loved making their own creation, trying out different placements and combinations of accessories to create their perfect snowman.

Of all the play compounds available out there, I really came to like Floof. It’s definitely one of the easiest to clean up and I like that it is pure white – no color mixing for this semi-control freak mom. It was easy for the children to work with and create, though we have stuck mainly to snowmen and haven’t tried to create anything else yet. The airtight bucket provides ample room to store the Floof and all the accessories, also making clean up and storage quite easy.

Floof is recommended for ages 3+, but with parental supervision my 2-year-old did just fine and really enjoyed making the snowmen. If you are looking for a low maintenance, sensory play, arts and crafts activity, I recommend checking out Floof. I really want the S’more Party set for myself, and the Polar Babies look adorable! Floof will definitely be on my list of “fun gifts that won’t annoy parents” for upcoming birthdays.

Floof 

Manufactured by Play Visions

Available at Learning Express, Cost Plus, Hallmark and Amazon

Kits start at $14.99

Ease of Use: 5

Appealed to children: 5

Kept child(ren)’s interest: 4

Messy: No

Other materials required: No

I would purchase this for my family: Yes

I would purchase this as a gift: Yes

Overall rating: 4

All ratings on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being highest.

Meet the Reviewer!

Christy Petrak is a systems engineer currently taking a leave of absence to raise her two children, Thomas (5 years) and Eliza (2 years). She enjoys spending time with her family, swimming and baking/decorating cupcakes.