Glo-Doodle

I absolutely love all the old retro toys that are making a comeback these days but I have to admit that, when I stumbled across an old Etch-a-Sketch in a doctor's waiting room recently and attempted to give a demonstration to the girls, it really did seem quite pathetic and impossible to use ! Since the days of the original toy, we have seen Magnadoodles, that gave you much more scope for creativity, then Aquadoodles, that let you use a magic water-filled pen that disappeared like invisible ink when it dried out. Well, now we have the latest version, Glo-Doodle, which is starting to look and sound very high tech !

The manufacturers describe it as the "first ever mess-free drawing toy with a transparent surface that uses bright coloured light to draw and trace. (Red, Green and Yellow). Simplistic design without pen trays as the same pen is used for 3 colours which change at the flick of a switch. Does not use marker pens ! Transparent surface makes it possible to trace anything you desire. Trace marks can change colour simply with light switch. Flip lid erases drawing surface instantly. No mess or smudge marks. "

Well, it looks brilliant on TV and Juliette always hones in on it in the supermarket toy aisle for a quick play when we go shopping so it obviously has kid appeal. It is really simple to use and allows you to be as creative as you want, either drawing freehand or tracing pictures through the screen, which is great for little ones who are not very artistically-gifted and who suddenly manage to create astoundingly good likenesses of their favourite TV characters (or whatever else they decide they want to trace) ! In my day, we used to use tracing paper but now that I come to think of it, I haven't seen that in years so I don't know if you can even buy it any more !

Juliette loves the fact that she can draw in the car when it starts getting dark. As usual, I love the mess-free aspect that makes it a brilliant toy for playing on the go or out-and-about at friends' houses. It's also fabulous that, as well as using the stylus, you can use your finger to draw so it's possible to share and play together, especially handy for playing noughts and crosses in the car on long journeys. I love the eco-friendly aspect that avoids using reams and reams of paper for scribbling on too.

Just one quick word of warning if you're buying this for Christmas - it requires 3 x AA batteries that are not included so make sure you buy some in advance to avoid an emergency trip to Tesco for battery supplies on Christmas Day !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £19.99