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ELC Super Scribbler
by emmad5689
This was bought for my youngest daughter for her second birthday from Early Learning Centre, it was reduced to £18 at the time I bought it, you can buy similar drawing boards but I have never seen another one with pull out sides like this one.
The board came packaged in a cardboard box which was easy to open and then the ... drawing board inside was all ready set it so Emily was pleased as she could play with it straight away.
The board is available in bright colours or in pastel colours, the pastel one is what we bought Emily and it is very obviously for a girl being pink, lilac and green in colour. The board has lovely rounded edges so suitable for young children although it is stated that under 3's should not use the board but Emily has played with it from 2 year old with no issues and she was monitored with the board to begin with.
The board is basically a drawing board in the middle surrounded by a pink surround and then it has a slider at the bottom for erasing the board. There is a pen attached with a piece of string at the top of the board and an indentation perfectly shaped for the pen to sit in when not in use. On the sides there are 2 pull out sections, the first section has 4 round stampers in it you get a flower, a heart, a star and I cannot tell you what the 4th is as my darling daughter has lost it! On the opposite side there is a triangle shape of plastic with a wheel at each point and each wheel has a different pattern on, your child uses it to roll across the drawing board and it transfers the pattern onto the board.
Emily loves playing with her board and it saves me chancing her drawing on the walls with pencils, to begin with she was unable to push the slider to clear the board herself but now at nearly 3 she can do it herself without any problem. The board has a little wear to it and there are some indentations on the board where Emily has pushed down too hard on it but that hasn't altered the way the board works. The board is fun and we sometimes use it with our older daughter to write words on and have her read them or for her to write words on how she thinks they are spelt.
This is a really good board and has the added extra of the roller which I have never seen on similar boards. You can buy cheaper boards than this but this one is durable, easy to play with and Emily loves it, this board has been on the go nearly a year now and there is plenty of life left in it yet.
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Crayola Colour Wonder Metallic Paper
by emmad5689
I picked this set up for my eldest daughter from Asda when it was reduced to half price, the set was originally priced at £8 so I got it for £4 which I thought was a decent amount.
The set comes packed in a cardboard packet which is much better than some of the color wonder sets which only come in a plastic bag, the box is ... very brightly coloured and has a row of 6 pictures on the front of it which could be created with the set. The set states that it contains 18 pages of the special paper and 5 pens which are coloured blue, orange, green, yellow and blue.
The box states that this set is suitable for children aged 3 and up, I would say that as soon as you are ready for your child to use felt pens then they are ready to use this set as it is simply drawing but the paper gives a special effect. The paper in the set is on a pad and each sheet has the color wonder logo printed on the back of it, the paper has a leather look to it and feels really smooth.
The pens are full sized and chunky so are easy to use, Sophie loves drawing flowers with this set but it's a bit of a disappointment for her that there is no green in the set. We also have the Disney Princess Color Wonder set and the pens from that set work with the paper from this set which I think is great and encourages me to buy more from the series since they are interchangeable.
Sophie really enjoys making pictures with this set and she will happily sit with her younger sister who is 2 and help her to make a picture too. The pens develop into colour on the paper within about 10 seconds and then continue to get darker for about 20 seconds to give a really shiny colour finish. The set is easy to use and best of all doesn't cause a mess, the pens actually don't have any colour to them so your child also cannot draw all over themselves or the furniture which is always a good point for me, 5 stars.
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BloPens Markers & Stencil
by emmad5689
I bought this set from Matalan before Christmas as a present for my eldest daughter, the set was £8 reduced down to £4 which I thought was ideal for a stocking filler. You can buy the pens on Amazon and they currently sell at £3.29 with 50p delivery.
The set comes packaged in a brightly coloured cardboard box, the box states ... that the pens are for ages 4 and up which I think is about the correct age. You can see pictured on the front some of the items you get inside and a little picture showing the idea of blowing the pens.
In the box you get 3 pens which are yellow, green and purple which I wasn't all that impressed with and Sophie did ask me why there was no pink pen but there wasn't a colour choice in the set. You get 8 stencils with the set which are a princess, prince and dragon scene, a dolphin, a hot air balloon, a bike and car scene, a fish, a toucan, a sailing boat and a rhino. As you can see from the list the stencils cover a wide range of items so there is something for both sexes and different ages.
To use the set you firstly need to remove all the middle parts out of the stencils which is a bit of a pain and you have to be careful doing it do that you don't rip the stencils as they aren't exactly very strong only being made of thin card. The pens have to be turned around in their holders to work so you have to pull off the see through plastic holder and then take the top off the pen and push the nib into the holder before placing the lid back on the other end making the pen completely enclosed so the nib cannot be touched.
When we first tried these pens they wouldn't work and I couldn't understand why, I was blowing on the end of the pen like you are meant to and checking the little instructions that come in the pack I couldn't work out what the problem was, after a while I discovered that when you push the pen into the holder it must be pushed in as far as you can and then it will work. The pens splatter the ink across your page and they fall in lots of little blobs of ink which provide great effects.
To create colour you simply bow on the end of the pen and it sprays the ink from the pen over your paper, the harder you blow the pen the more ink splatters and the further it splatters. To created pictures with the opens you simply have to hold a stencil in place on the paper and then blow through the holes or hold it in place with masking tape which we found was easier for Sophie as she always moves the stencil by accident.
These pens are fun and they seem to have a never ending supply of ink in them so they last really well and you can make loads of pictures from them. Sophie enjoys playing with the pens but we do have to remind her not to turn her head whilst she is blowing the pen as we have ended up with the ink all over the table a couple of times but luckily it does wash off. I think the stencils could have been stronger and the better range of colours would have been nicer but you can buy more pens too add to these, the pens are fun and great value with what I paid.
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