Gearhead Mom

Friday, November 02, 2007

Pretty Much a Fan of All Things Doodle

Posted by Jenny M. @ 1:05 PM

Ed. note-
Please note that Aqua Dots were recalled, not the Aqua Doodle.

Today my four-year-old daughter found her dusty Aqua Doodle mat folded up in a corner of her playroom.  Next thing I knew, both she and her little sister had spent a half hour on the kitchen floor, painting with water (it comes with a “pen” that fills with water; the mat turns blue as it gets wet). I bought the Aquadoodle after a couple of moms told me it was the greatest thing since exersaucers. I wasn’t as impressed, I’ll admit. Once it’s all wet, which can happen quickly, it’s pretty much done for the day. But my daughters loved using it together this morning. Of course, it only comes with one pen, and at first they were arguing over got to use it...when, in a moment of Mom Brilliance, I busted out the paintbrushes! Suddenly this activity had new dimensions. I put out a bowl of water to dip brushes and hands in, which was promptly overturned--but hey! Water spilled on the kitchen floor? Almost hardly worth cleaning up. 

My epiphany today is that we’ve actually gotten quite a bit of mileage from the Doodle products. Need a safe toy for the car? Magna Doodle is perfect (we even have the Disney Princess version for learning to write letters; as for my thoughts on Disney’s encroachment on the innocent Doodle line, see the Counter Princess Propaganda Campaign). Magna Doodles come in small hand-held to laptop sizes; my daughter uses hers to play school, to practice writing her name…

Missy’s humble opinion after the jump.

Hi. Missy here. Long time no chat.

I was just thinking about how much I love our Aqua Doodle the other day. Sy honestly plays with it daily, she draws beautiful, lumpy two-year old-ish drawings, traces her hands. She doesn’t get the whole thing wet because I don’t think filling in the whole mat has ever crossed her mind, or mine. She also likes to art direct her parents and tell us what to draw (we are getting very adept at drawing the characters from Maisy and Dora). When we have our playgroup here I just get all four pens (uh, hello Jen, you can buy all kinds of Aqua Doodle accessories separately). The kids like to try to suck all of the water out of the tip which I find gross, but kids are pretty gross when it comes down to it, so I just figure their behavior is right on target and yank it from their gooey mouths, reminding them that pens are in fact, not food. I like that you can fold or roll the mat up when you are not using it, making storage no problem. The pens will leak if you do not empty them or store them upright.

And the Magna Doodle is probably the most used toy in our house. Sy draws on it constantly. She loves to get half way through, erase with verve, and begin again. We have the smaller version for the car, too. It gets us through some otherwise deep tantrum waters.

These are really great toys. No batteries, my favorite kind!

Snapshot:
• The smaller travel versions are perfect for taking to restaurants, Aqua Doodle’s cards come with the same water-fueled pen but have scenes (your “favorite” characters—Elmo, Thomas the Train, etc) that turn vivid colors when wet. (Sy has the Elmo one and does not like it since she doesn’t get to draw on her own, my little control freak, but some of her pals enjoy watching the colors change).
• These are battery-free toys you can pull out again and again over a wide range of ages and which make great gifts for a family taking a trip (or for taking along if you’re an auntie or sister-in-law meeting the extended family plus kiddoes for brunch), for stockings, or for rainy-day activities. 
• The Aqua Doodle does stain but you can just decide that it just adds depth to the paintings, right?
• If the mat is all wet, try putting it out in the sun or use the hair dryer on it to speed up the drying process.
• Both toys are under $20.00 each.
• Note that Fisher-Price no longer makes Magna Doodles, that’s all about Ohio Art now. Fisher-Price makes the Doodle Pro line, while Spin Master makes Aqua Doodles. Just to get you nice and confused.

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