Holiday Gift Guide: GloDoodle and Glow Station

November 9, 11:28 AMEarly Childhood Parenting ExaminerAngele Sionna

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Looking for a toy for kids of all ages (think two years old and up) that is cool and perfect for playing at home with the lights out, in bed at night before bedtime or even on the road. Then check out these two super fun products that seem to let kids harness the magic of light and put it right into their artwork! They take the idea of magnadoodling to the next level.

GloDoodle by Spin Master is so cool. It impressed my 2 and 3.5 year olds, my husband and myself. We all wanted to play with it and didn't want to give up our turn for the next to have a go at it. You can check out a demo of it on the product's website but it is a hundred times cooler than the demo there. The GloDoodle is simple in concept but fascinating in practice. It is a low tech toy with a high tech feel. You simply turn it on - in your choice or green, red or yellow- and start drawing or writing. Whatever you draw looks like it is has been magically lit, similar to how glow stick necklaces look. The drawing surface is clear so kids can put their favorite coloring book pages underneath it and create glowing versions of them! I can't say enough good things about this product! You can get a good idea of how it works by watching THIS video.

Glow Station by Crayola feels like writing in the air with a sparkler at night on New Year's Eve or the Fourth of July. Just turn on your magic wand and go. The light wand makes the board illuminate like no other toy I've ever played with. That's the big difference - in this one the "pen" has the light which is mysteriously captured onto the drawing board. The only downside - whatever you draw goes away pretty fast. But that means you can draw new things over and over again all night long if you want to. Kids can free-hand draw or write plus trace stencils and color over special transfer cells. This is the coolest part of this one. Just rub the wand over these sheets, remove and it looks like you've drawn something really elaborate. To little kids, this is a big ego boost. The Glow Station is recommended for kdis 6 and up but I think kids as young as 2 can easily play with it and have fun - so long as you make sure they're not eating the pen. You can check out a demo of it HERE.

You'll never have another boring road trip at night with either of these gifts!