My First Crayola Double Doodle Board Review (Crayola)

The My First Crayola Double Doodle Board is part of the My First Crayola line of arts and crafts activity toys for toddlers, which offers a dose of creative play coupled with a bit of built-in developmental play. The kit is part of the Stage 2 Doodle category in the line, which encourages tactile hands-on play and exploration through creative play. 

The My First Crayola Double Doodle Board features a mess-free gel tablet on one side and flips to reveal a wipe-off surface on the other for coloring. The My First Crayola Double Doodle Board's gel tablet side is essentially a smaller, and slightly more portable version of the My First Crayola Mess-Free Touch Lights kit without the interactive features. On the white board side, kids can grab one of the three included chunky crayons, and start doodling and creating on the whiteboard surface. As an added bonus, the crayons in this kit are perfect for kids just starting to use writing and drawing utensils. The crayons feature a triangular shape that gives kids a jump on figuring out the proper grip. Once kids are done coloring their creations, simply grab a dry cloth and swipe to create a clean slate. 

This board offers two ways to play adding to the play value for moms and dads, but it's also got some great early motor skill development built in as well. We like how the gel side gives kids the feel of actually finger painting without the mess, and the crayons triangular shape makes it easier for kids to learn the proper grip. See our What to Be Aware Of section, though, for more info.

The My First Crayola Double Doodle Board is for ages 2 and up from Crayola. It will appeal to parents looking for crafty activities for their toddler that also have a bit of developmental value as well. Parents will also like the duel usage of the Doodle Board.

As you can see from our little tester shown in our video review, despite the age grade for the Double Doodle Board (2 and up), when you give toddlers crayons they want to color on everything, especially new surfaces. The texture of the gel tablet side is especially appealing to toddlers, and we had a hard time convincing our toddler that it was the white board she needed to color on. 

It shouldn't do much damage if kids do use the crayons on the gel side, especially since the crayons don't have any sharp edges that could cut into the gel, but parents will want to supervise their little artists and make sure they aren't doodling elsewhere as well.