I first purchased one of these water coloring books as a travel toy when Charlie was 2 1/2. They’re an excellent travel toy, but they’re also great for reluctant artists or to introduce “painting” to your little ones. How it works is you use water to “paint” a page that starts off completely white. As your child applies water with a brush, an image underneath the white layer magically appears. It is really easy and satisfying for little ones, and you don’t have to worry about making a mess!
And here’s what it looks like when it’s completed!
We received this book on a Korean Airline flight last year, and Olive loves it! They have four different scenes and are available in all different kinds of characters from Elmo to Dora to Mickey Mouse and more. I love to give these as gifts for kids under 3!
Toys for 2 Year Olds part 6 of 10
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4. Toys, toys, toys by Mrs. Confetti
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GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
cute!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
How cute, I’ve never seen anything like this!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
What age would you start these with?
pomegranate / 3779 posts
Those are cute. I’ll have to remember this for potential gifts in the future.
honeydew / 7488 posts
We love these as well. Great idea to use a paintbrush since the pens are always going missing!
kiwi / 673 posts
We received one of these as a gift for LO’s first birthday. Our friend figured it would be a while before she got into it, but at 14 months she loves it! We use the refillable brush and every time she paints the cow she says “moo”
Great gift idea!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Love the non-messy factor!
pomelo / 5866 posts
I have been trying to find more of these! Thanks for the links. It was a huge hit with LO and I had considered the Melissa and Doug ones as favors at one time. Great for traveling.
grapefruit / 4582 posts
These look awesome! Definitely want to try some out for DD!
apricot / 453 posts
The paintbrush is a great idea – that pen doesn’t work that well for little hands!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
This looks like a great road trip (and home) activity!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I used to love these when I was little! (the ones back in the day were a little different).
Totally getting these for DD!~
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@tinyperson: you could start these really young since it’s just water so even if they put it in their mouth, no big deal! any time after 1 that your little one is ready!
kiwi / 548 posts
We have the Melissa and Doug vehicles one and it just kept my 2.5 year old occupied while we were out to dinner (w/o a single request for our iphones). It is such a simple concept, but when kids come over for play dates they love them!
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
Wow these look great!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
I’ve never heard of this – I want to get some now! N loves watercolor painting these days.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
No-mess and fun! Thanks for sharing!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Very cool!!
grapefruit / 4400 posts
This would be perfect for keeping C occupied during our dinners out (and car trips!). Thanks!
@beachbee: What refillable brush do you use? A separate paintbrush or the pen that comes with the book?
honeydew / 7968 posts
Thx bee! Just ordered some!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@HabesBabe: i’m pretty sure she’s just referring to the refillable brush that comes with the coloring book.