Toys On The Brain

Archive for the ‘Art toys’ Category

The Doodle Pro Travel is a handy toy for toddlers and preschoolers and an even handier tool for parents with long waits in lines or waiting rooms.

The Doodle Pro has an attached “pen” that kids can use to write and draw on a screen. Whether your child is in the scribbling stage, or already showing signs of becoming the next Picasso, markings are but temporary and easily whisked away with the slide of the lever at the bottom, creating a clean slate for the child to begin again.

Kudos for the little carrying handle, and a string just long enough to allow ease of writing and drawing, along with an easy space to clip the pen back in place.

Nothing to lose, no batteries to replace, no noise to deal with, and plenty of practice for little hands.

There are different sizes of the Doodle Pro, but I like this smaller travel version. It is the perfect size for little ones to use in their lap, and the ideal size to toss in a large purse or diaper bag, and travel with in the car.

• Doodle Pro Travel at the Fisher Price Website

Buy Doodle Pro Travel Online:

• at Amazon.com

Turns out, Ecotronic’s Eco Rocket continues to be good for the environment (and kids’ fun) beyond the toy itself. As I was performing one of my all-too-seldom apartment cleanings last week and was stuffing all my cardboard into a bag for recycling, I realized that some of the packaging from the Eco Rocket would be perfect for the kids to use as houses for their smaller toys.

I saved the packaging and used the opportunity of a day off of school for Small Person #1 to let the kids paint them. They were actually really excited, since they love having the opportunity to make a mess, and they thought the cardboard forms were pretty darn cool. As you can see from the picture, Galactic Heroes are a nice fit, and Small Person #1 loves being able to use the forms as houses, castles, ships, or what have you. Plus, now we get to reuse something that’s already been recycled - can’t get much better for the environment than that!

You have to love a toy that keeps giving beyond the toy itself, especially when the toy is as environmentally friendly as the Eco Rocket. Rock on, Ecotronics!

• Green Party Goods Website
• Ecotronic Toys Website

For the time being you can save 15% off of all of Green Party Goods’ Green Toys and Gifts with the code save15.

Buy the Ecotronic Rocket Online:

• at Green Party Goods

I have a fundamental problem with the Aquadoodle Draw N’ Doodle Mat. The problem? I like to save the kids’ artwork. Every single lovely little piece of it. So a toy that is based on disappearing artwork would seem likely to find its way into my hate pile pretty quickly. Surprisingly, it doesn’t.

I suppose part of it is that I know, somewhere very very deep down inside, that I don’t really need to save all of the kids’ scribbles. It won’t stop me from doing so, of course, but at least the volume isn’t quite what it could be.

Essentially, the mat allows kids to use water to make blue marks on a large square of fabric. As the water dries, the marks disappear. So, unfortunately, if your child creates something to rival the best of Van Gogh, you won’t have any proof once the water dries. But, since that’s a lot less likely than we all want to believe, it probably isn’t too much of a concern.

One thing that does annoy me about Aquadoodle is that they have way too many varieties of the mats. There are Diego Aquadoodle mats, Dora Aquadoodle mats, Thomas Aquadoodle mats… well, you get the idea. And to be honest, you just don’t need more than one. The little accessories that come with the other mats (usually cars or trains that follow a track you make on the mat with your water pens) could easily be sold separately instead of requiring the purchase of yet another big hunk of fabric to take up space in your living room. As a matter of fact, we end up using at least one of them as Play-doh surfaces instead of ever using it for doodling.

Bonus points for being big enough for more than one kid to use at a time. Points lost for only including one “magic pen” with the regular version - make sure you buy extras or break out the q-tips or paint brushes and water to make up for it.

• Aquadoodle Website

Buy Aquadoodle Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Wal-Mart
• at KB Toys
• at eToys
• at Back to Basics Toys

When I saw this toy at a discount store I immediately said the boys needed it. I remembered playing with a Lite Brite when I was a wee tot, and figured the boys would absolutely love one, especially when it could be used by both of them at one time. In practice, though, it wasn’t exactly as great as I remembered it.

First of all, the build quality of this version is, how shall I put it… less than stellar. In fact, it’s downright shoddy. Once assembled, it definitely feels like the cheap plastic that it is - flimsy and insubstantial. The assembly itself is a pain, even for someone like me who has put together hundreds of kids’ toys in their lifetime. Once together, I discovered that the light bulb (which, by the way, gets really really hot) flickered every time the unit was moved or jiggled slightly - something that happens each time a child puts a peg in! To top it all off, the “convenient” little spaces to hold all the pegs are totally useless; they don’t close, so the pegs end up all over the floor. We ended up employing a small take out food container to hold all the pegs… that is, all the pegs we’re able to find. A few still end up getting sucked into the vacuum every time we take the toy out.

One of the least attractive aspects of the cube is that it can’t be used on batteries, thus employing a plug that is rather too tempting for young children. Admittedly, the recommended ages are 4 and up, but I still don’t trust Small Person #1 (four and a half years old) to play with it without supervision.

Now, I admit that I don’t have exactly crystal-clear memories of playing with a Lite Brite (though I do remember it was in 1st grade at school; I didn’t have one at home), but I definitely don’t remember the flimsy little pieces of black paper that you tack to it. Those annoy me to no end, since I always either put them on the wrong way or the pegs holding them in keep falling out. Have they always been part of the toy, or am I just going nuts? Wait, don’t answer that.

Aside from these issues, I still really like the basic concept. It encourages creativity and, as a bonus, is really great for hand/eye coordination. Small Person #2 (the three year old) loves it and, despite being left-handed, gets lots of practice using both hands to push the pegs in. We’re going to have to get more inserts soon (though we never use the patterns) since most of ours have been punched through and SP#2 prefers having fresh sheets each time he uses it. I’m contemplating just cutting black construction paper to fit, but I’m not sure how well that will work.

All in all, I would have to say that the cube didn’t really live up to expectations. Still, the price was about right ($20) and the kids have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it. Lite Brite makes other products as well, and once this one breaks I think I’ll definitely be getting a different model.

Buy Lite Brite Products Online:

• at Entertainment Earth
  
• at Amazon.com