Tadoodles : All-in-One Paint product reviews

I am a big fan of the Crayola products - they are good value, well made, last through the toughness of children, and they do have a big range. I first saw these at the Parent and Child Show in Auckland, many moons ago - and decided to purchase them with a voucher received at my first daughters first birthday. Now, five years later, these have been used by about eight kids ( three of which are my own ) and are fabulous.

They come in a set of three - we had the same as the ones pictured - red , yellow , blue . They are the perfect design for little ( and bigger ) hands, and are great on a rainy day - leaving , ( as they report ) no drips or spills - which is a big big big plus !! I love that they are designed in a way that allows even a young child to create without help - which is how they learn and experiment best. My oldest daughter ( six and a half ) still loves these - and enjoys seeing her younger brother laughing at them like she did.

The packaging is easy enough to open - slightly child proof , but not adult proof like a lot seem to be. I was struck by the fact that there was no lid , but as long as you do not store them brush down , they last... well, so far five-ish years ! The only thing is that at $13 per pack , they are pricey - but as a first birthday present - two of these and a big scrap book are an awesome , and not too messy present . Well done Crayola - another great item !

I first came in contact with the TaDoodles products at a child/parent expo in Auckland. Crayola had a huge stand, with lots of fresh newsprint, all these amazing TaDoodles out and free for all to try. The kids were going absolutely nuts for them. And why wouldn't they.

These marker paints come in a range of colours, and cute animal characters which make fun new art friends for your child. They are ergonomically shaped for baby's first grip. When I got a pack for my daughter, she absolutely loved them. She gurgled at the animals, and when paper met paint, she was absolute to scribble out her first art. These allowed her to experience the joy of creating something for herself.

These worked great for little hands which haven't quite got the control of an older child. Watching her face, it was obvious that the more she watched with the paints, the more she was learning eye/hand co-ordination and to control her jerky movements to get straighter lines and more obvious shapes.

The only thing that really worried me was that these didnt have a lid, but they didnt dry out. The product itself is a little pricey basically $13 for three paints. But you dont really have to buy the whole range of colours for your kid and they are really a great product. I've even bought these as gifts for my friends' toddlers.

I was really impressed by these. I didnt really expect much from something with short stiff bristles made of plastic. It was a little hard to get the ink flowing because you have to turn it upside down and push down on the bristles which wanted to bend instead of release ink but once my nephew got the hang of things he was away laughing. He found that by changing how hard he pushed he was able to change the drawn pattern. Pushing lightly released less ink which gave a more scribbled look but pushing harder got a more even stroke and flow and pushing really hard gave big puddles of ink he could mix around and create other secondary colours. It was a good selection to start with. Red, green, blue can give you a total of 7 colours to play with which is really good value for money. I loved watching him enjoying himself and exploring his artistic skills. He is only 3 years old but he does some really fun stuff and these will be great to have on hand any time he visits. After he had finished and was getting ready to leave he came running over and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for a really fun visit. He wants to come visit more and thats just great. Thanks crayola, you helped to bring my family closer.