My kids are no longer allowed to play with crayons. I just had to give up on them as the 2-year-olds' artwork began to slowly but surely creep onto the walls of every room in the house. Why did they always go for the walls when there was plenty of paper available? My aunt, an early childhood special ed teacher, provided the answer. Kids learn better when working directly in front instead of bending over. Coloring on the walls is their natural inclination. The solution in her classroom was Aquadoodles, and I resolved to give this coloring alternative a try for Little Man's second birthday.
The aptly named Aquadoodles allow kids to "color" with water. The water goes into a pen or brush with an absorbent tip, and the pens change the color of the special Aquadoodle mat from light blue to dark blue. The mat can be mounted on the wall and presto! the kids can draw on the walls, meeting their intuitive educational needs with no mess. As their scribbles dry, the mat returns to its original color, so it is continually reusable. I bought the Aquadoodle Wall Mat, which came with one pen, for $20.00 and the Aquadoodle Accessory Set, which included an extra pen and a paintbrush, for $5.99.
From the moment we popped it out of the box, I was of two minds about its success. On the one hand, the kids loved it. My two-year-olds and their
four-year-old cousin jumped
right in to "coloring". They were absolutely delighted watching the different ways the water could spread across the mat depending how hard you pushed the pen. They drew shapes and asked for letters and numbers. They shared very well, they played both on their own and with adult input. It was fun for everyone, and it kept their interest for over an hour on that first day. Given its success with the target audience, the Aquadoodle mat should have earned a 100% positive review from this Mommy.
Unfortunately, I noticed a fatal flaw even before the kids started playing. When I pulled it from the box, I immediately felt it was too flimsy. The mat is not really a mat at all, but a thick piece of paper only about as sturdy as a sheet of poster paper. The toy is marketed for ages 2 and up, and it is just not sturdy enough for that age group. My Little Man is not very aggressive, but he is, like most little boys, just hard on stuff. Part of exploring and understanding a toy is to bang it around a little--it's just how toddlers are--and the Aquadoodle Wall Mat was not fit for that kind of treatment. I was sure he would rip it. My sister-in-law offered the excellent suggestion of covering the back with contact paper, and I resolved to do so ASAP. Unfortunately, ASAP was not soon enough. Little Man ripped the mat almost in half the next day during the course of normal play. It had been up in the house less than 24 hours.
I taped the rip, coated the back with contact paper, and stuck it back on the wall. The paper is absorbent, so I was worried that the contact paper would affect its playability. Though the mat did wrinkle a little bit during use, which I feel happened because of the contact paper backing, this has not diminished the kiddobeans enjoyment of the toy. It has continued to be a hit, and is great for single or multiple kids from scribblers all the way up to writers. Apart from the durability issue, the only other (very minor) problem is that the kids can unscrew the pens and dump a small amount of water on the floor. In general, however, the water is pretty well contained and the Aquadoodles system does keep everything very clean.
I would purchase an Aquadoodles toy again, but I will skip the Wall Mat if I do. The floor mats appear to be more durable (though without touching one I can't know for sure), and if I purchase again I will attempt to stick the sturdier floor mat onto the wall. In the meantime, I'm giving a shout out to the Aquadoodles' people: Hey guys! Great product, but way too fragile for two-year-olds. Either change the product, or change the marketing!

