Customer Reviews

Crayola Tadoodles Scribble and Sing Art Station

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

My daughter got this for her 2 year old birthday. She and her older sister (4 years old) have fun playing with it - however i do not like the design. My kids were constantly grabbing at the markers to where the paint tip was in their palm & then they would flip it over so their hands got so messy. (Look at the picture of the product - how else is a kid supposed to pick up the marker?) Also the paint is very wet & mixes a lot on the paper so that the tips of the "markers" end up all being the same shade of dark brown/black when you are done playing with them. the nice thing is that you can clean them by rubbing them on a clean sheet of paper when you are done until the color comes back. However - i'm less likely to pull out this toy due to the amout of clean-up required (paint all over toy, clothes, hands, etc.). I'm sure of the educational value - it "sings" when you put a marker in the center spot & talks about the color that is in that spot (so if you put the green in that spot, it sings a song about green) it also will randomly select a "way" to draw (squiggles, dots, etc.) Maybe if you played this toy with an adult & a child (vs two children) it would be more educational (you could reinforce the song, etc.) - however my kids wouldn't really pay attention when it was singing - they thought the tunes were catchy but they weren't listening to "dots" vs "squiggles", etc. so i'm not sure that aspect of the toy is utilized. I also thought it might help my 2 year old with her colors but i'm not sure it's doing that. Overall - not a toy i would recommend to friends.

The markers sit in the holder ink side up, so when a child grabs a marker they get a hand full of ink. The ink gets everywhere. And there is lots of ink. It saturates the paper. The paper remains wet and the ink is then transferred to arms, clothes, and everywhere else. I love a good messy art project, but this is too much.

The educational value is dubious at best. It names the color of the marker when a marker is placed in the yellow cradle and it sings a song. An adult saying "would you like the blue marker?" would have more value.

I would not suggest this toy to anyone. I'd rather give my toddler a handful of uncapped permanent markers than this toy.

My daughter also got this for her 2nd birthday. Although it says that it is age appropriate, it really is not. The markers don't have caps and sit with the marker point up. Which means that my daughter would constantly grab it by the marker part which gets messy. Also, while the markers do sit in a holder that tells you the color and such, the way to make it talk is to push it down. The most natural way for a 2 year old to push something down is to push it down on the top (where the marker ink is) with the palm of their hand. She ended up with ink all over her. It does clean up easy however, not a sit by yourself and color while I make dinner kind of toy due to the mess factor. I returned mine. Maybe more appropriate for an older child.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad bit, but not much. I don't mind messy toys, there is playdoh all over my house after all, but this toy is just ridiculous. Noisy and messy, what a wonderful combination. My MIL purchased it for my 2 year old to keep him busy while I help his older brothers with school work - the problem is if you look away from your burgeoning artist for a minute you have a rather large mess on your hands. The idea of having markers without tops that don't dry out sounds good in theory, but the application leaves much to be desired. The color is made from a watery liquid stored in the little "animals". If you press them to the paper and hold them down this liquid will come running out, a fact that my son discovered quickly. He also discovered that if you bang them on the table little color drops will spatter all over the place - enjoyable for him, not so much for me. Oh and the voice that sings (and I use that term loosely) the color songs is the most grating one I have ever heard. If you receive this as a gift, RUN, don't walk, back to the store.

I was excited when my 22 month old son received this for Christmas. I had seen the commercials, and thought it was a cute idea and would be fun for my son.
Like other reviewers said, it is SOOO messy. Which, I would be willing to overlook if it was a lot of fun.... but my son would try to color with the marker, and since only the very top "tip" of it colors, he would end up trying to color with the sides, and would just be rubbing the plastic on the paper. He would get so upset, and I would try to help him and show him how to get the tip of it on the paper, but it's just too complicated for little kids to get the hang of. He LOVES to color with crayons, and I think I will stick with that. This was a waste of money... a good idea, but just not well designed. Maybe if they made the same type of unit with crayons, it would be easier for the kids, less messy, and more enjoyable for everyone.

Our 15 month old daughter really likes these markers. She has mild success drawing with them only because she tends to hold them upside down, and doesn't apply enough pressure for the marker to write fully. The ink washes away from hands and clothes no problem. The singing and talking is nice but I am not sure how much education value they have cause we have only had it one week so far. I am happy with this toy and would recommend.

My son absolutely adored coloring with these, he even tries to the zigzags, dots, scribbles, waves and lines like it has pictured. He played with it most between 1 1/2 and 2 and would spend an hour just coloring away. Of course it's messy! Just put him somewhere where the mess can be contained and let him enjoy!!!!!

Purchased this toy for my two year old son and was extremely disappointed! It comes with one color sheet, the markers are extremely watery and messy....I thought it would recognize the marks the markers made...it just says "dots, lines, etc". In my opinion it was a waste of money!!

I was hesitant to buy this because of the overal bad reviews, but for 11$ I was willing to take risk but I was expecting the worst. However, to my sursprise I really liked it, and so did my 2 year old son. Before starting, we prepped the art-area with a big plastic table cloth you get from the party store for a couple of $, I put my son in a smock (you can buy the crayola ones for 4$ in TRU or on old T will work too) so his clothes couldnt get dirty and we were ready to go.

My son was immediately interested in the station because of the colors and music. I showed him how to hold the tadoodles and paint with them (I do see these as paint and not as markers). Because he recently got the stamps of the same brand he already knew how the hold them in the right way and got painting. He did get some paint on his hands (touching the top, accidently putting his arm in his painting,painting dots on his hands and mine :),...) but that's just not a big deal. For me that's part of the fun, that things get a bit messy :) and you go get to wash your hands afterwards (it's fun for toddlers that they see how their hands become clean). All of the paint went off without a problem.

This is a fun activity to do with your toddler, they learn how to be creative, learn through the songs and it's just a bit of messy fun. I do think it's best to do with an adult who guides them a bit in the right direction.

So please try it out, I'm sure you have fun :) , we did!

Wish I had read these reviews before buying this. It's a TERRIBLE design. Like others said, they pick up the markers with the tip in their palm and get ink all over themselves. The ink is very watery and gets on everything. Smears on paper. First time trying it, and my son got more color on his hands, clothes and the floor than on the paper. I don't mind a little mess, but this was ridiculous. And it recommends that you wash the clothes immediately so it doesn't stain... good grief! If I don't get my money back for this one, it's going right in the TRASH!

We'll stick to crayons.