Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board

With a built-in easy-to-grasp slidable eraser that makes it easy for kids to get a blank slate to play with, the Fisher-Price Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board (~$28) is a re-writable writing and drawing board that comes with a magnetic stylus and shapes.

The Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board may sound a lot like another product called the Magna Doodle. They are similar, as once Magna Doodle was sold by Fisher Price. Now that it’s no longer sold by Fisher-Price, Fisher-Price started producing its own alternative called the Doodle Pro. They basically work the same way.

The Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board makes for a great toy, and kids love to draw and erase with it over and over again. However, a big part of the Doodle Pro’s usefulness is that a magnet drawing board makes a great teaching tool for young kids. It can be used for quick minute lessons that can fit any learning level.

Magnetic drawing board as a teaching tool

For a 3-year old (or even 2-year-old if you feel your child can do it) draw a picture of circle and square on the Doodle Pro. Hold it up and ask “Which one is the circle? Which one is the square?” Have the child point to the board. Erase and repeat with more variations of shapes as they get better at identifying them. Give them positive reinforcement for getting the answers right.

Once they are good at identifying the shape, also work on having them say the name of the shape on their own, like so: Draw one shape on the Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board and ask the child “What is this shape called?” Have them say “circle” or “triangle”. Again, give them positive reinforcement, like saying “Great job!”.

As the child gets older, instead shapes, use letters and numbers. Start out by drawing two letters on the Doodle Pro board and ask “Which one is the ‘o’? Which one is the ‘t’?”, and have the child point. Erase and repeat with new letters. Letters can be overwhelming, so go easy and start slow, and make sure to include easy ones like ‘O’ and ‘X’ pretty often at first.

What is harder is recalling the name of the letter, so also do lessons where you draw a letter on the Doodle Pro and ask “What letter is this?”.

Once children get close to age 5 they can start learning sight words, so doing the above with real words, like “and”, “the”, and “me”, will help them get better at identifying sight words, and strengthening reading skills.

Also, children will find themselves wanting to draw the shapes, letters, numbers, and words, too, and let them ‘turn the tables’ on you by having them play the teacher, by drawing out the lesson themselves on the Doodle Pro magnetic board, and you the student. Let that happen – teaching others has proven an effective way to solidify learning.

Have you ever wondered how magnetic drawing boards work?

You likely knew there were magnets, but what else is involved?

The display is a piece of plastic that seals honeycomb cells of a thick white liquid and magnetic particles. The magnetic particles are pulled through the white-dyed liquid when a magnet pulls them to the front of the display. The magnetic particles are very fine and light in weight, while the liquid is purposefully thick, therefore preventing the magnetic particles from falling to bottom of the cell. The sliding eraser is actually a magnet as well, pulling the particles to the back of the cell and therefore all the player sees is the while liquid again.

Bottom Line

The Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board is an fun drawing and learning tool, requires no batteries, and can be used in different ways through the different stages of childhood. While the magnetic shapes might get lost, the magnetic stylus is attached via string and so it will always be usable. The ability to erase is just as satisfying as drawing with this durable toy. The Doodle Pro magnetic drawing board is a good gift for a kid.