Do We Really Need Play-Doh Guns?

Remember when playing with Play-Doh meant making long snakes or muddling up the colors? Times have certainly changed. The new Play-Doh Police Motorcycle from Hasbro comes with what we believe is the first Play-Doh mold for a gun. It's a small piece that resides on the side of the police officer's motorcycle.

Is making a gun for the police officer a really important piece of play for preschoolers? We think not. Taking on the role of police to keep the peace is an age old theme of pretend play for young children. Taking something as pure as playing with clay as a means for producing pretend deadly weapons is, in our view, not appropriate. What do you think?