Melissa & Doug Magnetic Chalk Dry Erase Board

by Melissa & Doug

Product Features

• Double sided board
• Dry-erase board on one side and magnetic chalk board on the other side
• Includes three sticks of colored chalk and a dry-erase marker
• Also Includes 36 magnetic letters and numbers
• Recommended age range from 3 years and above

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16 x 12 x 1.1 inches ; 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GKES4S
• Item model number: 145
• Manufacturer recommended age: 4 - 8 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,612 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #7 in Toys & Games > Arts & Crafts > Blackboards & Whiteboards
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Double your fun! This combo chalk/dry erase board comes equipped with everything necessary to keep a child busy drawing; doodling; and spelling for hours! Features multi-colored chalk; eraser; dry-erase marker and 36 magnetic wooden letters and numbers.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for preschoolers - but has limitations!, March 5, 2005

By 

Kicking back in New England - See all my reviews

Looks like an ideal gift for preschoolers, but after purchasing this for my niece, I realize it has significant limitations.

First - the good: It's a chalkboard, a whiteboard, and has magnetic alphabet letters - what more would you want for your 3 or 4 year old? Plenty here to keep your child occupied doing all kinds of different, creative things.

Now, the bad: First, there isn't a place to put the marker and the chalk when not in use. Not too bad if your kiddo is sitting on the kitchen floor, but can be a disaster if he or she is sitting on the carpet. The natural inclination of children is to set everything down (even if the marker top is off - which it usually is). This also becomes a problem if your artist has just drawn a wonderful picture on the whiteboard side and flips it over to draw with chalk on the other side (whiteboard side face down on carpet - you get the picture). Yikes!

Second, the age range mentioned above is for 3 - 6 year olds - which I think is stretching it by a few years. Most 5 and 6 year olds are already in school and aren't satisfied with just playing with the magnetic letters. They are much more interested in making words to show mom and dad, and find it frustrating when they only have one of each letter. The letters also disappear all over the house, showing up on many magnetic surfaces - significantly reducing the ability to make any words at all.

Another note of caution - don't expect to use this in the car. Seems like a great idea, but it is a little large for that, and as there isn't a storage space for the accesssories - they all end up going between the car seats - argh!

I know this review seemed mostly negative which wasn't what I really intended - but I felt parents should be aware of some of the negatives, as well as the positives, before purchasing!

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor Design, September 21, 2004

By 

scducharme (Concord, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I'm not a big fan of this toy, and usually I love the Melissa and Doug toys.
Problem #1: there are only 26 letters, so you can't spell words that have more than one letter (or names, for example "Sara")

Problem #2: the whiteboard marker is bound to be used on placed other than the whiteboard, and of course, it stains.

Problem #3: There is no place to hold the chalk or marker.

I am going with the larger set of letters for the fridge and will use the blackboard part of this for just drawing with chalk.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Toy but needs some improvement, March 10, 2006

By 

Madison and Nathan's Mom (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

We bought this for our daughter's second birthday. Here's what we like and don't like.

Pros:
1. We like the magnetic side. We bought some of the melissa and doug "magnetics in a box" sets to use- our daughter loves to play with the magnetic animals. It's one of her favorite afternoon activities. The magnetic letters that come with it will be used as she gets older.
2. Chalk side- she's had fun with this too. The chalk that comes with it is tiny and breaks so I went and bought some super large, chunky chalk and it is much better. She enjoys coloring, using a wet rag to wipe it off and start over.
3. Size- I like that it is on the smaller side. It's the perfect size to take with us when we go to a restaurant, car ride, etc.
4. We haven't used the dry erase side yet- she is to young for markers.
5. We like the little string that you can use to hang this board up. Our daughter has a child size table and chair set in the kitchen and we hung this chalk board/dry erase board up above the table. She loves to pull it down and play with it while I'm making dinner but it also looks really cute hanging on the wall above her table.

CONS:
1. Chalk is very skinny, small, cheap, breakable. You almost have to go out and buy some of the larger pieces of chalk to use that are more sturdy.
2. No ledge to put the chalk.
3. The eraser that comes with it is only for the dry erase board. It doesn't work on the chalk side so you also have to go out and buy a little chalk eraser. They aren't expensive but still, it's aggravating to have to go out and get it.
4. It would be nice if there were...
a. more dry erase colors
b. if the dry erase markers were washable. Our 2 year old is to young to be careful with markers so she can't use them yet b/c they aren't washable.

Overall, this was a good purchase and we would buy it again. Our daughter very much enjoys playing with the magnetic/chalk side and will grow into the dry erase side as she gets older.