Aqua Magic Doodle Mats Toys for Kids Toddlers Paint Water Drawing Mat Educational Toy Large Size for Boys Girls Gift Age 3,4,5,6 Year Old 34.6" X 22.8"

I bought this because we have family coming to visit us with a child who can be a handful at times and is not getting being raised properly. Mommy thinks vacation is her vacation from her kids as well. We do not have little kids so our home is not kid friendly so I always try to have various things to keep him occupied so he does not ruin our furniture again. Since I cannot parent the child, I can do my best to keep my stuff safe from the little brat.What I liked about this is that it uses water and only water. I can easily clean up water if he decides to draw on my walls. It is also large so his sister can color with him if she wants.The mat itself is rather larger. It opens up and lays flat. The material on the bottom keeps water from going through the mat. There are alternating colors under the top piece that show through when it gets wet. The alphabet is print around the edge in upper and lower case. They are in bubbe lettering so a child can use the marker to write inside of the outlines to practice the alphabet. This mat comes with two "markers" and a brush that are all filled with water. The pens twist in the opposite direction than one would expect but the directions are right there on the marker. It is recommended to soak the tips prior to use to get the flow going. It also comes with 8 sponges but they are very thin. They are not an absorbent sponge but more like foam. I think they would be good for tracing.I have been playing with this and my roommates were laughing at me because I seemed to be enjoying myself too much. It works well. The colors are fun to see come through. Even a bowl of paint and an ordinary paintbrush can be used on it or heck, even your fingers in a bowl of water! I even found it fun to splash water on it so it would be fun to use a spray bottle on it but I won't be putting a spray bottle in this kid's hands!If I weren't planning to send this home with the kids it would be small enough to store it for use at a later time.

This mat is nice and big - about 34 x 22 inches. The drawing area is the white in the center and when you get this area wet, the colors underneath show up. My child really liked this foam tracing shaped that came with the set. She set about tracing them all over the mat and then coloring them in. The pens and paintbrush were easy to fill. I had no problems loosening the tips by turning them opposite of how you usually turn things. They call this a safety feature to prevent youngsters from dumping out the water, but I think young kids don't care which way to turn. You can certainly feel the tip loosening as you turn it right. So I don't think this would really stop kids from opening the pens if they really want to. Once you soak the pen tips, they work very nicely. Be sure to do this first. If you don't you will think that they don't work. The paintbrush does not need to be soaked. The drawing area has a wavy rainbow of colors so you get a good variety of colors. There are also letter outlines around the edges of the drawing area for children to trace. Depending on how wet you get the mat, your picture will take 2-5 minutes to fade as the water evaporates. My daughter has had a lot of fun showing us how she can draw on herself with the pens and it does not leave any color behind. She is most impressed with this feature!

This was a good purchase. I wish the little pens it comes with were a bit more sturdy and didn't require soaking in advance. We use regular paintbrushes with it most of the time. I like the letters on it.

1) Try to twist the pen the other way if you're having trouble: I spent way too long trying to remove the top of the water pen on this set to add the water inside because the arrows were affixed incorrectly. I even tried to use pliers to twist it off. My husband suggested trying the other way and it immediately twisted off--what a waste of time. I damaged the pen a bit as well trying to twist it off.2) After a couple uses, the mat now has permanent marks on it from the water that never erased. Not great.

My 3 and a half year old thinks this is great. I think it's great because my 3 and a half year old is occupied for a half hour to an hour at a time. I'm considering buying another one of these, because waiting for this to dry is killing my kid :P He prefers to make the whole thing a rainbow (either by 'painting' it or by pouring water on it) and playing in it. Then when it's all colored up we have to wait probably an hour or so because it's soaked. Pro-tip, put a box fan on it ;) Dries a lot faster when your patience is running as thin as your toddlers. We use this on a hard wood floor and have had no leaks at all.I will say this though, those darn markers are super hard to open, I know others have said that, but it hasn't deterred us at all. We mostly use the paint brush and I give him a little bowl of water (seriously a little amount) to dip the markers into, which almost makes them more fun anyway. And then he can dump the water onto the mat when he's ready LOL we love this thing!

My 2-year-old loves this magical doodle mat so much that he and I use it almost everyday. It comes with two water pens that are good for two of us. We can each hold one pen to draw and/or write anything on it easily without worrying about clean up or mess at all. The size is big enough and perfect for a toddler and a parent having fun together. I use it to teach him alphabet, numbers, characters and words. The included booklet is helpful so that I can follow the visuals easily step by step. Overall, I think the mat is very educational and entertaining. Highly recommended.

It has been giving me a headache to clean up the mess after my kids paint. With this product, I no longer need to wash the painting stuff. The product comes with 2 water pens and one brush. It is very easy to use, all you need are just water and a place to put the painting mat on. My 3 years old loves it!