How to keep kids quiet and occupied has been on every parent’s mind for about a month now due to the coronavirus and the answer might just be screen time — but not like you think.
The Boogie Board Magic Sketch from Boogie Board is a tablet-shaped drawing board that can keep kids occupied for hours. The semi-transparent LCD eWriter uses a battery (that has a seven-year lifespan!) to power a rainbow of colors that kids can discover by drawing, practicing math or letters, and playing games.
Each Magic Sketch uses a see-through screen and double-sided templates that slide under the screen for endless tracing fun. There are four sets with different sketches: the original, the travel kit, Disney Frozen 2, and Disney Favorites. Both the travel kit and the original set include three learning templates, three game templates, and three drawing templates. The Disney Frozen 2 collection includes nine templates with fantastic Frozen designs for the biggest fan to sketch. For more Disney fun, the Disney Favorites set includes nine templates of Goofy, Cinderella, Mickey, and more classic characters to trace.
Kids use the included stylus to trace over the pictures, play the games, or practice their writing and math skills. When they’re done breaking out their inner Picasso, cleanup is simple — just press the button on top of the screen and the image disappears. This means kids can’t really hang this art on the fridge, but they can practice making museum-worthy works without wasting paper. Watch it in action below.
The travel kit only includes one pen-shaped stylus, so you’re not losing anything under a car seat. The rest of the sets include one stylus and three texture tools. Each one reacts with the screen differently to make any new design easy to achieve. Kids can drag the scraper across to fill the whole screen with rainbow, or create finer strokes with the “paintbrush.” The third texture tool is a thick pen that’s perfect for little hands to grab onto. The screen itself is just over 1 foot long so it is easy for kids of any size to hold.
Kids who tend to cause some trouble when left alone with their toys will have to work extra hard to destroy this one — even spilled water won’t break it. This makes it a great alternative to giving kids a phone for the promise of a few minutes of peace. The Boogie Board Magic Sketch keeps kids entertained and out of trouble — that’s the true meaning of magic.
