The Doodle Roll is a simple concept: A "self-serve" roll of paper in a case, with a place to store crayons, for drawing on the go. It's a significant improvement on a core idea we've seen before -- Klutz's Doodle Dogs/Cats/etc. from several years ago, still on the market -- because it takes advantage of the two big benefits of roll paper drawing: long-form drawing (murals or narratives) and collaboration (providing a strip long enough for multiple artists to draw together). Z has enjoyed drawing tiny murals on adding machine paper before, so this sounded like a good idea to us. As it turns out, Doodle Roll offers a welcome twist on the hurry-up-and-wait activity in any setting where parents (a) pull out scraps of paper and a crayon or pen, (b) carry around a full drawing kit with paper and a pencil pouch, or (c) curse themselves for forgetting the drawing stuff again.

Our six-year-old had no trouble unrolling more paper from the roll, which is pretty much the most important criteria this device needs to meet. She couldn't get the crayon compartment open, but if you're carrying a Doodle Roll around in your purse or car, you'll be glad for the tight fit.



There are no snaps or clasps to impede even younger users from similar success -- it's a simple molded plastic inset lip made of forgiving PET plastic. But even if you're the official assistant to the artist, it's easy to unspool enough paper to keep them going for a while.

The plastic used sort of screams "disposable," but we're glad they chose it. PET is as pervasive and as easily recyclable as a soft drink bottle, whereas a firmer plastic like polypropylene, although it might get a bit more use, would use up significantly more resources to manufacture and recycle.

Z's one note of dissatisfaction was with crayon quality. She is a connoisseur of crayons and found the set provided by Doodle Roll to be too soft and easily broken. Personally, I was pleased that they weren't waxy, poor colorers like the kind you get at restaurants. They actually color well. That said, it's four crayons. They're easy to replace with your own if and when they get broken.

The cheapskates in us saw this product and said, "Hey, maybe I should bring a roll of adding machine tape to our next meal out instead of pieces of paper." That plus Z's ever-ready pouch full of crayons would do the trick. But there are two advantages -- okay, three if you count the sheer convenience -- to the Doodle Roll. One is that the plastic case grips the roll end of the paper and holds it flat, so the paper doesn't further unspool while your child is drawing. (I know, cheapskates -- a pencil pouch on one side of the roll and a set of keys on the other would do the same.) The other is that this paper is wider than adding machine tape, and gives kids a lot more room to work with vertically. The Doodle Roll comes in 4" and 6" wide strips, which, incidentally, we cannot find anywhere on the Internet for purchase on their own. (It figures: Doodle Roll maker Imagination Brands' founder, Marc Cooper, works in the paper industry.) If you could track these things down, and stashed a rubber-banded one in a drawing kit with a set of four or more crayons, and planned to improvise a method for holding the roll in place everywhere you went, you would essentially be duplicating the features of the Doodle Roll. But you would be doing so in order to save $4 minus whatever the paper cost you. Even cheapskates have a breaking point, right?

The Doodle Roll is sold in 4" and 6" widths (with 15' and 30' lengths of paper, respectively) for $3.99 and $4.99 at children's stores nationwide, thanks to a distribution deal with Schylling. The 4"x15' roll is suitable for a large purse, if you don't mind the weight, but either size travels well as standalone items or in your child's own bag, as everything is self-contained in the plastic carrier.

Side note: Z's drawing, shown above, is a scene from Jasper Tompkins' exceptional, out-of-print children's book The Catalog.

This item, received from the company for review, is a consumable and is not affected by our Keep No Stuff policy.

Our entire family is in love with Crayon Rocks. Z has always been a marker girl, snubbing crayons for markers or paint since she was given a choice between the two. It'd gotten to the point that I was actually considering getting rid of all of our crayons since they were so neglected.

Then the Crayon Rocks arrived in the mail. Z hesitantly used them the first time and as she used them she got more and more excited. Crayon Rocks, made of soy wax rather than (petroleum-based) paraffin, glide smoothly over the paper and leave behind brilliant, bright colors that can be blended and smudged in much the same manner as pastels. They are rock shaped not typical crayon shape and the rock shape encourages the use of the tripod grip which helps early scribblers train the muscles they need for fine motor skills. The rock shape also encourages an exploration of different techniques of marking the paper - using a flat side to make a wide swath of color or using a tip to make a thin line more than a standard paper wrapped crayon.


Fall colors.


Crayon Rocks are priced at $7.50 for 16 rocks or $5 for 8 rocks, and sold on their creators' website. The company is currently sold out but they are taking pre-orders and they have assured me that they will be shipping in time for the holidays.

After years of struggling with an old, not-quite-working sewing machine, I finally splurged and bought a Janome a few months ago. (I got the Heart Truth model, which does 50 different stitches; it's a great deal at under $400 for a great brand). I love sewing with it - I had no idea that sewing was so fun and easy when you have a machine that doesn't hang up every 37 stitches.

Newly inspired, I tried my hand at making some softies for Z. I had her draw a couple of pictures and pick the one she wanted to turn into a softie. We dug through my fabric scraps for some fabric and got to work, with the idea being that we would try to represent what she had drawn as specifically as possible - body shape, limb proportions, and facial features.



Z was thrilled with them. She loved that she made them and has been very interested in doing more sewing. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my first try at softies. My one difficulty was getting those giant arms and legs into the inside of the body so that when I turned it right side out the stitching would be nice. I've never looked at a pattern for softies but I assume that there must be an easier way to do this (other than the obvious making the limbs smaller). Any ideas or tutorials?

As for the sewing machine, it has since been instrumental in creating Z's evolving ideas about her own Halloween costume. At this point, she's a "hippo princess," which is basically a pink cape (thanks, sewing machine!) and a hacked-up stuffed hippo. Must be seen to be believed - I'll have photos after the big day.

I've also been playing with those stitches. Check out what this baby can do!