The best thing I have in my house (Tomy Thomas & Friends Aqua Draw)

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Tomy Thomas & Friends Aqua Draw
Date:	04/04/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: makes no mess

Disadvantages: none!

I think this product is probably the most impressive thing my two year old son has (and maybe it surpasses everything we have too). In the quest to find an artistic outlet for children, it seems nothing we can do gets rid of the risk of stains: chalk, paint, pens, pencils and of course the dreaded crayon can all leave their mark. Well, all that now changes!

The aqua draw set is basically made up of four A5 pieces of card. Each one is a dark grey in colour. You then get a 'pen' which you put water into. When you rub the pen across the grey card, a beautiful picture emerges, such as Thomas and friends in their sheds on a glorious sunny day. After a while, the water dries, the picture fades, and it's ready to use again.

This simple premise is just so clever I'm in love with it! Not only is it mess free and re-usable, but it also has the effect on a child of making them feel they are producing all of the range of colours and pictures they see. Rather than some of the other artistic products which produce grey shapes on a board, this is bright and beautiful - in many ways what children would be aiming to draw. On top of this, it also encourages children to use a pen because the more they colour or write, the more of their favourite train character they get to see. My two year old can now hold a pen really well, and we haven't had to worry about him drawing up the walls.

You can buy these sets in a much bigger scale too, but for me these are ideal as they're portable and can be taken around with you wherever you're going. At £3.50 a set, they're cheap as you like, too, so it's just all so good.

Summary: do it