Backyardigans Drawing Adventures Review

My son doesn't watch very much TV but he absolutely loves the cartoon The Backyardigans. I was kind of excited when I first saw the toy The Backyardigans Drawing Adventures because I knew he would love drawing and like that it involved his pals the Backyardigans. Not surprisingly it was clear he liked the toy but it wasn't perfect.

The Backyardigans Drawing Adventures is a book with a magnetic drawing board attached to the top of it. This design is neat but sometimes I really wish it was two separate pieces so you could have the board closer to you. Another unfortunate design in this toy is that the magnetic pen is attached to the right side of the board by string that understandably is short for safety reasons, but it would seem my son is left handed as he draws and eats with his left hand 90% of the time. In order to fully enjoy the toy we untied the magnetic pen and have just been very careful to keep track of it, and so far so good. As I write that I am knocking on wood because I would hate to lose the pen. Other wise the toy is very fun and my son plays with all the time.

The eraser on The Backyardigans Drawing Adventures moves smoothly enough that my son can easily use it. The book portion consists of 22 pages. Every other page has a step by step instruction of how to draw something from one of the Backyardiagans episode. The different things that the book shows you how to draw include a jungle vine, rare flower, umbrella, mug of hot chocolate, pirate ship, crown, snow fort, giant diamond, snow covered pine tree and palm tree. The rest of the pages have a wonderful picture of the Backyardigans characters in a scene that goes with the item you are drawing.

For now my son is too young to follow the instructions or read the words above the pictures on the opposite page. He enjoys doodling on the magnetic board and turning the pages and looking at the pictures. The recommended ages for this toy are above 2 years of age and my son as more than a year before he'll be 3, so as he gets older this toy will be able to offer him more and more as he'll learn to follow the instructions and read the pages. Despite its minor flaws The Backyardigans Drawing Adventures is a very fun toy.