I am looking into some alternatives to playdough in my daycare to give the children a different learning experience and I have heard mixed reviews on Moon Sand. It's supposed to be sand that is kind of sticky and you can mould into different shapes without using water. Some people claim they love it and others hated it, claiming it was really messy and not worth the money. Has anyone had any experience with this product? If so, what did you think? Pros/cons? Would you buy it again?
Moon Sand is pretty messy, and is hardly as fun and pliable as they claim it to be. I remember when my little sister got the stuff - it actually turned out pretty lame. Yeah it's cool because it's a totally different feel and texture than Play Dough, but it got old fast. I'm sure the kids at day care would love it though, just because it's something different. You should make oobleck! Oobleck can be pretty messy, but it's crazy fun.
When my kids were younger, they had some moon sand but it didn't last for long at all simply because it was too messy and it ended up everywhere. I hate that gritty feeling too. One thing that you might be able to consider doing is looking up some of the different play dough recipes that you can find online. You could add some other things to it (like oatmeal) to give it a different texture. There is also a homemade goo that you can make that can be messy but that is fun to play with and has a very different texture.