Review of VTech Stencil and Learn Studio

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My older kids always had the magnadoodles so I wanted my 2 year old to have one as well. I came across this VTech Stencil and Learn and chose it over the magnadoodle or doodle pro as it's now called. The shapes are smaller on this one, but this has so many great features. She is a bit young for the stencils, but my older kids use them. I like how it's interactive. I think it will get lots of use in the future years!!

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I bought this item for my 2 year old daughter because she has been getting really interested in learning to write and she usually has fun with the simpler versions of this toy that she has encountered at friends' houses. Although the basic function of the doodle board works well, the many extra features which attracted me to the product are somewhat problematic. 1) The stamps (which my daughter really enjoys) have places to rest in the side of the toy but nothing to secure them in place, so if you carry the toy in your arm or it gets tipped over, they fall out and are easy to loose. 2) The stencils are nice, but they are not fully secured by sticking them in the slot. So if you are drawing into them and you put any sideways pressure on them, they slip a few millimeters just enough to mess up the finished product a bit. 3) The only non-transparent part of the stencils, which you can use to identify them without closely looking, is a spelled out word identifying the drawing (e.g. train for 'T') this makes it challenging for a toddler to identify a stencil for a letter. 4) The stencils fit in a plastic carrying bag (good), but it can get easily separated from the main toy. It would be better if they were housed in a case that you could snap into the bottom. 5) The voice features are really irritating and pushy (meant to encourage the kid to draw, but this seems unnecessary), and it's hard to get them to stop once they start.

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We got this for my left-handed 3year old for her birthday and she absolutely loves it. All of the stencils and stamps are great and fun for her. The magnetism on the board is fantastic compared to other similar products. Would definitely recommend!!

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My 25-month-old daughter loves the magna-doodle, but she's still a little too young for the letter stencils. No matter, I'll save it for next year's christmas present.

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Not all that impressed so far.

The slider erase bar gets "stuck" half way through the middle of an erase, so I have to do it for our 2 year old. Also the erase feature doesn't remove the last drawing in one swipe... you must push it back again in order for the image to be completely gone. Maybe not a big deal for an older kid to swipe twice, but it frustrates our 2 year old.

The 2 of the 3 stencil magnets on the side are loose. The star stamp falls out easily.

After less than 20 minutes of play, our son has already scratched the screen to hell.

The pen doesn't draw well when held at the low angle (which is all he is capable of at this time... again, this probably won't be a problem for older kids)

So yeah, overall I feel like this was poorly made and don't feel like this is going to last very long. I'll let update this review in a while to let you all know how well it holds up!

UPDATE: We started using the stencils... which he like a lot! The only problem with them is because he is a toddler and still rough with his toys. Because they are a thin plastic, he has bent some of them(and since they bend easily, I don't blame his roughness completely). Anyway, some no longer lay flat making them impossible to trace. He really hasn't noticed yet, but I suspect someday soon it will frustrate him too.

~ leaving my review at 3 stars partially because all 3 magnets no longer stay in place at all.... and they are his favorite part.

~ and I see no reason for the stencils to have been enclosed in a separate bag. There is a big, empty section underneath the board. Which based on the size of it when compared to the stencils, looks like that the space was there because the manufacture intended to store them originally. But for whatever reason the manufacture opted out of that design and went for the detached bag instead. That is just silly.

~ It was on sale at xmas for $20, which for that price, I would recommend it more... but for the $43 it is listed at now, I would have been more disappointed.