Review: Creativity Kits Pottery Wheel by Action Toys Inc

I was interested in checking out the Creativity Kits Pottery Wheel by Action Toys Inc because (a) I knew the kids would love it, (b) I have no experience “throwing” clay and thought it would be fun, and (c) it was time we had a project where we could get good and messy.

Here’s what we discovered about this product:

THE MACHINE: Though made of plastic, it was sturdy, and included options for either battery operation or AC adapter (adapter included). There were spots to store the paint and assorted carving tools, although frankly we left them empty while using the machine. The motor and wheel held strong during the “throwing” of the clay. The machine is lightweight and totally portable.

THE CLAY: It comes with 2 pounds of clay, which means you could make one larger creation, or in our case, four smallish ones. Either way, the clay they include won’t last long, so plan on buying more. We had a bit of a time deciding on the right “consistency” to make the clay for best results, but after some practice, we got it down. Also, it’s an air dry clay, and everything we made dried in 48 hours. No baking involved!

THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL: The kit comes with a 26-page instruction manual, which I found incredibly helpful. It was clear and concise, and included excellent illustrated examples. Because we’re totally new to working with clay, I still might recommend searching YouTube for different techniques on handling clay, but as it was, we stuck with the included guide and still had fun.

THE ASSORTED CARVING TOOLS: These are also made of plastic, but held up well during use. We didn’t use everything, although maybe we will as we get better at designing and sculpting. Still, they came in handy for the kids carving their names and designs into their work.

THE PAINTS: For some reason, I was skeptical as to how vibrant these paints would look on the dried clay. But they turned out great! Only thing is, you don’t get a lot of paint with the set, so as with the clay, plan on buying more.

Pottery Wheel by Action Toys. It has held up to repeated use and though obviously it’s not a “professional” pottery wheel, it has completely captivated our kids. My son is the only one yet to use it, and trust me, he’s been begging me about it for the past two days! Though we will need to buy more clay and paints to get the most out of it, I’m willing to do that in order to see how much more creative we can get.

AND NOW, FOR YOU…

The folks at Action Toys Inc are offering a 20% off promo code for readers of Tree, Root, and Twig. Go HERE to view and purchase the product, and enter the code BLG001 at checkout. The code is good until May 31st.

• Anonymous

  We tried the pottery wheel today and did not have good luck. we are complete new at this and my daughter, although having fun, was not able to complete a pot. She is 7 1/2 and a lot of adult help was needed. her sides kept falling in. I am not sure if we had the right consistancy of clay. the directions said, "add enough water to the right consistancy" but didn't really specify what that was! We will try again and it was fun to get messy. We did this outside and I am glad i did.