Vintage Play-Doh Count Creepyhead & Friends Playset Review

If you've always loved Play-Doh, monsters and/or Halloween, Kenner's Count Creepyhead and Friends Play-Doh set is one you should own. It allows you to create your favorite monster faces and includes four masks representing Dracula or a vampire, a werewolf or the wolfman, a mummy and an evil countess, villain or queen.

The set includes the figure or body, his hair, a cape and the four masks referenced above. It is recommended for individuals aged 3 and up and is marked set number 24210 with the UPC code 076281242101. 

Here's the original television commercial for the set:

And here's a review by Mike Mozart from The Toy Channel on YouTube. Mike does a great job of reviewing the toy in action and of making you want to own the set.

Unfortunately, it is a vintage 1984 playset, which means it is retired, rare and expensive. What is it worth today? The price does vary and I have seen a new set sell for $399 but today's results are somewhat lower than that and, of course, you can find used sets for considerably less. See for yourself what the Count Creepyhead and Friends Play-Doh set is valued at today by clicking here to eBay.

What an great addition to a Play-doh or Halloween-themed toy collection!

Happy Haunting!

Brenda

Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH:

Play-Doh in my eBay store.

You never know what sets and or accessories I might have in store for you!

Play-Doh's Jake and the Never Land Pirates Playset Reviewed.

Know a fan of Jake and the Never Land Pirates? You might want to check out this set.

Play-Doh Airplane Explorer Starter Set Review.

Perfect for airplane fans or anyone who works in the airline industry. Don't miss this set!

Play-Doh's Medical Doctor or Operation-Themed Set.

Finally, this set is perfect for anyone who works in the medical world.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Play-Doh's Jake and the Never Land Pirates Playset Reviewed

Jake and the Never Land Pirates is an animated preschool child’s television series that was produced by Disney Junior and aired between the years of 2011 and 2016. The storyline took inspiration from Walt Disney and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan story. It tells tales of the three main pirate characters - Jake, Izzy, Cubby - and of a parrot named Skully who together search for treasure and find themselves competing with Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Sharky and Bones.

SERIES TRAILER

Here’s a peek at the show:

SHOW SUCCESS

The show was successful with the little boy audience it was aimed at and Common Sense Media says, “The program is full of good social messages about solving problems, being a good friend and appreciating individuality. It also includes basic academic skills like counting and sorting and involves kids with music and humor.”

SHOW TOYS

There was a high demand for toys for the series and in 2013, Play-Doh issued the play set shown here for fans of the show aged 3 and up. It is perfect for pirate-themed creative play whether it is inspired from the program Jake and the Never Land Pirates or from your child’s imagination.

SET CONTENTS  

The set comes complete with two stamps, a press in the form of a canon, a treasure chest shaper, a crocodile cutter and three containers of Play-Doh. Please be aware that retired sets have old Play-Doh in them and you may have to replace the modelling compound, which is easily and affordably done at your local toy store.

WHERE TO FIND YOUR SET

There was also another set for this series, a Toys R Us exclusive, called Pirate Ship. However, both of these sets have long been discontinued, which makes them somewhat hard to find. I recommend searching for Play-Doh's Jake and the Never Land sets here on eBay.

See you at the toy store!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH

Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.

Play-Doh’s Airplane Explorer Play Set.

 
Play-Doh's Classic Medical Clinic Doctor or Operation-Themed Set.

Play-Doh’s Campfire Picnic Set.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Play-Doh Airplane Explorer Starter Set Review

Play-Doh's Airplane Explorer Starter Set will appeal to the little and even the big folk who are enthralled with airplanes. What follows is a brief review of this set.

Released in 2024, this set is considered a starter set for children aged 3 and up and is perfect for airplane-themed creative play. 

It comes complete with a rolling airplane that stamps cloud patterns as you roll it along and that includes molds in the cockpit so that you can make a pilot or two. It also includes a world map-themed playmat, travel-themed molds to make shapes that are seen on the mat, a globe roller, a luggage roller and a camera that molds postcards. Of course, it also comes with the iconic modeling clay. In this case, there are four canisters in blue, green, orange and purple. 

Here's a peek at the set in action:

This set is good for little ones to develop fine motor skills, engage their imaginations and explore the world on a map.

It is a fun set for little ones but I think it would be a "made you smile" kind of gift for anyone who works in the aviation industry, too.  As Play-Doh says, "no passport is required" to travel with this set.

Find Play-Doh's Airplane Explorer Starter Set here on eBay.

See you at the toy store!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH

Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.

Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic Playset.
The World of Play-Doh.

Play-Doh's Classic Medical Clinic Doctor or Operation-Themed Set.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Play-Doh Classic Clinic Medical Doctor or Operation-Themed Playset Review

Here’s another wonderful Play-Doh set. This one reminds me of the traditional battery-operated game, Operation, and will appeal to little nurse and doctor wannabes and big folk who are or were in the medical profession. What follows is a brief review of this retired and hard-to-find set, which is perfect for medically-themed creative play. Bonus? It was deliberately made to have a retro feeling.

Your children will be able to create all kinds of strange illnesses using the doctor-themed tools that include a stethoscope, doctor’s mirror, clamp, syringe, scissors, slicers and tweezers all with which to cut, stitch and fix the patient. Yes, it comes with a patient, too and two cans of modeling compound and a mold for creating body parts and creatures.

Play-Doh used imagination when they advertised this one. “Screws loose in the head? Frog in the throat?” You can make anything happen with this fun medical set. Released in 2019, it is considered appropriate for children aged 3 and up.

As with all Play-doh sets, this one is good for young children to develop fine motor skills and engage their imaginations. It would also be a great gift, a sort of stress releaser I expect, for anyone working in the medical industry.

This set was an exclusive Toys R Us release and now that it is retired, is somewhat hard to find. You can look for Play-Doh's Classic Clinic set here on eBay. However, if you want to check out all of the medically-themed playsets including both doctor and dentist ones, try here.

See you at
the toy store!
Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH

Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.
Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic Playset.
The World of Play-Doh.
Rex the Chomper Dinosaur Play-Doh set.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic Playset Review

Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic: Children who love camping will love this playset!

Love camping with your family? Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic playset will let you and your children recreate the fun of camping even when you cannot be at the campground. What follows is a brief review of this set.

Released in 2015 as a limited edition playset at Toys R Us, it is now retired and no longer readily available at the store. However, it is available new and used on eBay. Recommended for children aged 3 and up, I think this set represents a whole lot of fun camping-themed play.

It includes a play mat, a campfire with brown logs and gray stones, a frying pan and utensils, five containers of Play-Doh and more. Rustle up some pretend chow for breakfast, lunch or supper. Great fun for a child who enjoys Play-Doh, camping and cooking. I can see your little ones cooking up a fun treat with this set.

Find Play-Doh's Campfire Picnic here on eBay.

See you at the toy store!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
MORE PLAY-DOH

The World of Play-Doh.
Play-Doh's Rex the Chomper Dinosaur Set.
Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.
Discover the Play-Doh party bag.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Play-Doh's Rex the Chomper Dinosaur Playset Review

For all the little boys and girls (and maybe even the big ones) who are enamored with dinosaurs, Play-Doh created this T-rex or Tyrannosaurus dinosaur-themed set called Rex the Chomper. What follows is a brief review of the set.

Released in 2017, it is now retired and no longer readily available at retail outlets. However, it is available new and used on eBay but be aware that there are two versions: a regular-sized one and a mini-sized one. Recommended for children aged 3 and up, I think the bigger Rex is more fun for small hands. 

The regular-sized set shown here includes a Rex that is 6 inches tall and 8 1/2 inches long, three small tubs of the modelling compound, a plastic knife, a small volcano and a cookie cutter in the shape of a dinosaur foot print. 

Options for play including growing Rex’s tongue and scales, using the tail to make him chomp, crafting lava from the volcano, making footprints with the cutter and creating frogs, fossils and foliage with the molds.

I can see your little person creating a world for Rex and then using his imagination to create a story!

Find the Rex the Chomper Play-Doh set here on eBay.

See you at the toy store!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH

The World of Play-Doh.
Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.
Discover the Play-Doh party bag.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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The World of Play-Doh

WHAT IS PLAY-DOH?

Play-Doh is a non-toxic modeling material for young children, for older children and, of course, for the young at heart. It is made from a blend of wheat flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil. Join me here as I review a bit of the history of the iconic play compound.

A BRIEF HISTORY

Play-Doh was first made as a wallpaper cleaner in the United States in the 1930s and became a children’s product in the 1950s when it appeared at an educational convention and was eventually used in schools. Initially the department store Woodward and Lothrop took on the product but when Macy’s and Marshall Field’s saw how popular the modelling compound was, they also took it on. Play-Doh did not have money for advertising so, in what turned out to be a stroke of genius, they arranged for Captain Kangaroo, the then massively popular children’s show, to use it on air once a week. The rest is, as they say, history.

THE COMPANY'S HISTORY, A VIDEO

The Accidental Birth of Play-Doh: Uncover the complete company history via interesting, 10-minute long YouTube video:

CONTINUED POPULARITY

Play-Doh has continued to be popular in the decades that followed and is now available in an endless array of sets that include everything from cans of dough to items like the perennially popular Fun Factory to pop culture themes of the day like Star Wars and Disney. The product made the Toy Industry’s Association Century of Toys List in 2003.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Play-Doh is a wonderful product for developing children’s skills. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination are enhanced with all of the pushing, squishing, squeezing, and pinching that is required to play with the product. Literacy and numeracy are promoted when a child creates shapes and numbers and acts out stories. Calm and focus are a natural result of this quiet activity that also supports creativity, imagination, playtime and social skills. Whether a child has a few colors of the modeling material or many colors, the options are endless.

TODAY

According to the video shown above, Play-Doh is available in over 80 countries today and the current owner, Hasbro, produces over 500 million cans of the modeling compound each year.

Is there a can of Play-Doh in your future?

See you at the toy store!
Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE PLAY-DOH

Retired, new, used and vintage Play-Doh sets in my eBay store.

Discover the Play-Doh party bag.

Uncover the  Play-Doh and Disney Princess Royal Palace set. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Gruffalo Crumble

Proof that we really do get out and about (and crafty) whatever the weather - today we attended a special party for the Gruffalo, to celebrate his 15th birthday! 

Despite rumbles of thunder and a torrential downpour of rain, we still had great fun and enjoyed all the activities, including (naturally!) some forest crafts. 

We made a few Gruffalo things, including a lovely log birthday badge, but our favourite activity of the day was making a clay Gruffalo using a mixture of craft and forest materials. 

You can make one at home if you have some air drying clay, salt dough or similar! 

1. Roll a large ball of clay for the Gruffalo's body, and a small one for his head. Secure together with a stick if necessary

2. Add two googley eyes (ideally orange, like in the book) and a tiny green pom pom for the poisonous wart on the end of his nose! 

3. Cut a purple pipe cleaner into small pieces, bend in half, and press into the back of your clay figure, for those "purple prickles all over his back"

4. Use two pieces of pine cone or bark to make his ears

5. Find some sticks with bumpy bits to give him legs with "knobbly knees", and some more sticks for his arms

6. Find some small pieces of twig, bark, leaves or other forest objects to give him his terrible teeth, and his black tongue! 

7. If using air drying clay, leave overnight and it should be hard by the following day

Do you have a great craft tutorial to share? Why not create a How To page on Squidoo? As the Little Crafty Kids Contributor, I'm always on the lookout for fabulous new craft ideas, and I'll be sharing all the best how-to's and reviews on the LCK  Pinterest and Twitter. 

Happy crafting!  

(c) All photos copyright of the author

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Little Artists

As the Little Crafty Kids Contributor for Squidoo, I don't just look at craft projects for the under-fives, I look at art ideas, too, because to me, the two subjects are inextricably linked! Many crafts involve at least some painting, drawing or artistic input, and all the creativity that goes into them can only serve to enhance the art that kids go on to produce.

I'm writing about art for preschoolers this week because my daughter has done very little crafting, but a heck of a lot of drawing. She is obsessed at the moment, and is really exploring color, too. So much so, that even food cannot get in the way of this current passion - she doodles away on the paper towel that I put under her breakfast, lunch and dinner plates, so I am currently the proud owner of numerous sheets of beautifully decorated kitchen roll, including numerous rainbow designs like the one on the left, which I am working out how to effectively display in some kind of scrap book!

Engaging with children and their art is a wonderful way to connect and encourage, I feel. Don't simply say, "Oh, that's nice," and definitely never ask, "What's that?" - instead, talk about the shapes and colors and styles used. Comment on what you like about the picture, or why they decided to put that particular object there, or whether there is a story behind it. Today, I was telling my little girl how much I liked the way she had drawn the mountains in the background, and the pattern she had colored on the girl's dress. This led to her explaining more about what the picture meant to her and why she had drawn it.

They may only be young at this age, but don't let that put you off exploring the art world! I have been reading lots recently about introducing different artists to preschoolers, and I heartily agree with this idea.

I recently showed my daughter (4) some of my high school artwork, and she was particularly captivated by this pointillism painting I had done (right). So I explained a little bit about pointillism, impressionism, and Monet, and she expressed interest in having a go herself. As serendipity would have it, one of the books we had taken out the library, Katie and the Waterlily Pond, was about a little girl exploring an art gallery, and she magically hopped in and out of, yes, you guessed it, various Monet paintings whilst trying to paint her own impressionist painting! My little girl was now definitely hooked, and we're in the midst of starting an impressionist project as I write!

The beauty of art is that you can make it as simple or complex as you like - great for deconstructing artists and interpreting them at home for age appropriate activities! 

One of the great things about art for kids is that, like crafts for kids, there is plenty of scope for recycling things! I'm slightly obsessed with melting things at the moment, especially with all the terrific ideas for melted crayon art and melted bead crafts. These projects do of course need adult supervision, but under-fives will just love the things you can do - such as seeing what amazing patterns and colors you can make on canvas with this Melted Crayon Art project by neeznoodle.

Another wonderful form of art for children is modelling with clay. We were using it out in the forest this week, making marvelous mini beasts at forest school (here's Pud's lovely ladybug on the left, decorated with twig legs, leaf wings and catkin spots!) 

As this was a fun activity outdoors, the bug is left unbaked. For ideas at home, don't worry if you don't have access to a kiln for proper clay. There are lots of air drying clays available, as well as non-toxic polymer clays such as Fimo, that you can bake in the oven. You can also make salt dough or your own homemade clay too. 

So, are you inspired? What masterpiece of artwork can you create with your children or grandchildren? If you have enjoyed some great art projects with your under-fives, please and share them !

As always, happy crafting.

(c) All photos are copyright of the author

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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