Monday February 21, 2005
Magnadoodle time!
This has to be the best toy we own. He has spent a lot of time drawing on this thing. It is actually not as easy to draw with the tool as a normal pen and paper, so I am amazed he is able to draw so well on it.
First, let me tell you about the pictures I missed. He got this great Melissa & Doug chalkboard/dry erase/magnetic board from his grandparents in Texas. The thing that is unique about the letters is that the magnet covers the entire back of the letter instead of just a square attached to it (like refrigerator magnets) He discovered that if he put them on the magnadoodle as a stamp, it made the letter shapes. He spent a lot of time carefully stamping the letters on the magnadoodle.
He also began to take the letters and using them as shapes and elements in larger pictures. Using the “O” for tires of a vehicle, using the “1″ to make lines, ect. He also just makes neat looking designs using the letters as shapes. Very good open-ended toy.
Now, the pictures
A vehicle, obviously. The things I notices is that the wheels were carefully drawn with 3 nested circles to create a tire and hub caps. The squares are the windows, and he included bumpers. I assume it is a car, but it might be a train since he drew the ground as lines (and the placement of the windows).
An example of the “O” as tires. This time he drew wheel wells around the tires, and used the “O” slid across the bottom for the ground.
Carefully laying down a grid of squares. He filled the whole thing with this pattern.
After putting down a grid of squares, he drew lines in a cross and x shape in the squares. Then he took the square stamp again and tried to lay it over the top in a diamond angle…which sort of messed it up, but it was really neat to see him layering pattern upon pattern to make it more intricate.
Look carefully at that drawing tool. 
He is using a ‘Thomas the Tank Engine” train to draw with. (the ends have magnets on them to join them together) Here he is drawing flowers.
We got excited because dd drew a circle and a squiggle on the end and called it a fish! I can’t believe he can draw that well, wow!
Call it right brain learning. lol. Probably very connected to why he is such a late talker. Plus, both dh and I are artistic…not that he will turn out being artistic, but it makes sense that part of him might develop first.
Wow! How old is he?
Nevermind, I just looked at the ticker at the top of your site!
Wow…wheel wells?!! I still don’t include that in my car drawings! He is quite artistic! What a great use for Salty!
My son loves Thomas too.
Wow!!! He’s five months younger than Drew and Drew still scribbles most of the time. He’s done a few things that i’ve kept, but seriously, he doesn’t really draw. Zane’s artistic abilities are impressive.
Zane is so creative and I can’t believe how clear and well defined his drawings are!