Amazon.com ReviewThe PixOs Super Studio allows young children to explore their creative impulses and make various two- and three-dimensional creations and designs. With no ink or mess, the PixOs Super Studio is a clean and easy way for children aged four and up to get started with art. You're child will be thrilled when he or she presents you with an original sculpture. Because of the many small pieces, this studio is not appropriate for small children who need constant supervision during playtime.
Children can create cute, colorful figures such as a cat. View larger.
The fan helps designs dry and set more quickly. View larger.
What We Think
Fun Factor:
Durability:
(what this means)
The Good: Fun studio unit stimulates creativity and lets children create art.
The Bad: Takes awhile to dry; small balls can be swallowed and lost; fan not very strong.
In a Nutshell: Kids can create and display fun, easy-to-make art with the PixOs Super Studio, but watch out for the small pieces.
At a Glance
Ages: 4 and up Requires: Two AAA Batteries to operate fan (not included)
Easy, Clean Art The Super Studio requires some assembly, which a parent will most likely have to do. Don't worry: set-up is simple. The PixOs Super Studio works by allowing kids to create art by using small balls called PixOs that will stick to each other if lightly sprayed with water and allowed to dry.
There are different colored PixOs, and children create designs (using templates or with their own imagination) by using the "pen" to place the PixOs on a grid-like tray. An included "eraser" makes it easy to remove a misplaced PixO. After the child is done with a design, he or she lightly sprays it with water using the included spray bottle, and puts it underneath the fan to dry. When dry, the finished piece can be removed from the tray and placed it wherever you'd like.
We made a cute, colorful cat, then gave her a dog for a playmate soon after. Once we understood how it worked, we were able to whip up new designs and art quickly. Just be certain that the designs are fully dry. It took a bit longer than we expected, and we accidentally ruined a cherry because we picked it up off the plate before the PixOs were sufficiently dry and stuck together.
Please note that the PixOs are tiny. Although the recommended age on the box says four and up, we believe that children on the younger end of the scale might require supervision, especially if they are inclined to swallow things. Additionally, the fan requires two AA batteries to operate, but we found that the fan was too weak to really speed up the drying process; instead we placed our finished PixOs designs by an open window to save on batteries.
Different Templates Make Learning Fun Included are six template designs of varying degrees of difficulty that will help you get accustomed to using the studio. With the templates, kids can make strawberries, cherries, cats, dogs, and more! Some of the designs are three-dimensional, so they can stand on their own. Once these templates have been mastered, kids can create whatever they want and will only be limited by their imaginations.
What's in the Box 500 PixOs, PixOs Sorter and Dispenser, six template designs, two trays, water sprayer, standard instructions, 3-d instructions.
REVIEW
Fun, but beads don't stick together very well.... According to my eight and six year old daughters, the PixOs Super Studio is fun, but there are some problems that they had with it. First of all, they had trouble getting the beads to stick together. Spray too little and the creations fall apart. Spray too much and it takes forever to dry. Also note that if you spray too much water, the PixOs will bloat slightly, which makes it difficult to align back in the tray if you want to make modifications to it. One big complaint they had was that the set came with way too few beads, so expect to buy refills. Personally, I was a little disappointed with this set, so I also bought a Manley Art-Tastic Magic Bead Set Manley Art-tastic Magic Beads Deluxe Playset - 1200 Beads, which, according to them, was a much better set because the beads stuck together better, and were the exact same size as the PixOs. Also, the Art-tastic Magic Beads have a few more patterns and come with more beads. But best of all, the Art-tastic refills are cheaper than PixOs. You can consider buying either one while using the Art-tastic Magic Bead refills.
From a magical tree in a magical forest comes the adorable Furberries. Inside each fuzzy fruit is a yummy scented surprise - just push the button and out comes your very own Furberry baby animal! This sweet, shy, little baby will become your berry best friend. Ages 2+
This bouncy trampoline doubles as a learning toy, too! Kids will delight in jumping along to fun learning games and silly songs. Enjoy this electronic mini trampoline indoors and out. Features a five-in-one multigame sound system that makes learning fun: counting, music and rhythm, sound recognition and memory. The five games included are bounce counting, silly sounds, musical statues, animal sounds and memory matches. Requires 3 "AA" batteries (not included). Measures 42" x 36". Holds up to 80 pounds.
REVIEW
Worth every penny!! I bought this for my 2 year old last christmas to save my couch. It has been worth every penny!! I have alot of kids of all ages in and out of my house, and every one loves it. Parents have commented about the safety of it because of the handles for even the smallest of our friends. The ony complaint is the default volume is very loud. It can be turned down, but what kid voluntarily will do that!! We didn't find it that hard to assemble, but it's definitely a two person job. Santa was a winner with this one!!
Arrange PixOs in any pattern or design you want and spray with water and playNo heat, no glue and no messIncludes 500 PixOs, two design trays, five double sided templates, two instruction booklets, one large sprayer, one super studio unit with storage, dryer and pen dispenserSafe and non-toxicFor ages 4+
REVIEW
kids loved it but fan burns out quickly I'd recommend buying the pixo starter set instead, which I plan on pre-ordering.. my 6 year old absolutely loved aquadots (which is the exact same product as this just a new name ) but the fan burned out on it after only two or three weeks of use... we found that as long as you CAREFULLY follow the instructions given on how to apply water air-drying works just fine - lift the design carefully and if it still seems lose carefully re-apply water... through trial and error you'll discover the best method... or you could always use a hair dryer on the "cold" air setting. As you can probably guess from this review your little one will need help i.e. this isn't a product she can play with without a grownup's assistance... also if you have babies around apparently this isn't a good toy to buy due to the possibility of little tykesswallowing the beads and becoming poisoned as a result. Apparently the new non-aquadots version of this product isn't supposed to be poisonous but better safe than sorry...do a search on wikipedia for Bindeez (another name for this product) for more information.
Make your design, Spray with water, Let it Dry, Beautiful
REVIEW
Kids loved this even more than mom did! I purchased this for my girls who LOVE to craft. I was a bit wary of how the finished project would hold together, but really liked the idea of not having to use a hot dangerous iron. My girls were more thrilled by the results than I was! Once the patterns were set in the templates and sprayed with water, it took quite some time for them to dry. Even when the top was dry to the touch, underneath was still damp and goopy. Mom had to help turn out the still fragile creations onto a plate so the template could be used for the next creation. After thorough drying, though, I must say this is quite durable. I had a hard time intentionally pulling apart the beads.
I thought my girls would be upset at the amount of time they took to dry, but amazingly, they said it was better than having to be nervous and careful around a hot iron (smart girls). Overall, this is a great beading project requiring minimal parental assistance (always supervise your children with small objects)
Get your creative juices flowing with the PixOs Starter Set. It comes with a four-color chamber pen, spray bottle, and two trays for six amazing designs. No batteries needed.
REVIEW
That's right...the pen is useless...but the rest is pretty good My kids are 7 and 10 and are currently enjoying Pixos (nee Aquadots). The first thing I learned about this product is that the pen is absolutely useless. I mean, completely useless. The second thing I learned about this product is that it is pretty expensive for what you get. There are not nearly enough pixos dots to keep the kids going with design after design. (And that is what brought me to Amazon to see if I could find a set with just the dots only.) That being said, once you get over the useless pen, this is an art project that my kids can do by themselves...completely...and to me that's worth a lot. They place the templates, place the beads, spray the design and wait for their masterpiece to dry...all by themselves. Yes, unlike the plastic beads that require ironing, this product does not (necessarily) require adult supervision and gives much more instant gratification. I do agree with some of the other reviewers that the time for the project to dry exceeds the stated time in the instructions, but if you've got multiple trays, that shouldn't be a problem if your child wantsto move on to another design before one is dry.
To sum it up, this product is actually a hit with the kids, which makes me give it a good review. (They are now creating Christmas ornaments.) What this product needs is waaaaaay more beads, or a set that contains 2 or 3 THOUSAND beads (at a reasonable price) to keep the kids busy for days to come.
Amazon.com Hands-On ReviewForget those remote control cars that just scoot across the ground! These Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro cars moves in three dimensions -- across the ground, up the wall, and even upside down on the ceiling! By using a specially designed suction device, the car can climb a wall and maneuver just as it does on the ground.
Air Hogs lets you control a car along the ground and up walls. (red sports car version shown) View larger.
Use the remote to charge the car's built-in battery. (red sports car version shown) View larger.
What We Think
Fun Factor:
Durability:
(what this means)
The Good: Car can drive up walls; includes rechargeable battery
The Bad: Car is a bit fragile; slightly loud; limited wireless range
In a Nutshell: Car can do everything it advertises, but all the conditions must be met
At a Glance
Ages: 8 and up Requires: 6 AA batteries for remote, clean surface
Smart, Innovative Design Air Hogs makes the only cars that can climb walls, and the Zero Gravity Micro is smaller and faster than the original Air Hogs Zero Gravity Humvee. We were surprised by how small and light the Zero Gravity Micro is; it is basically a thin plastic shell wrappedaround a light body with a vacuum in it. Our car was designed to look like a red race car, but you can choose from other designs available as well.
We were able to get the Zero Gravity Micro up and running without any problems. The remote control unit needs six AA batteries (not included), and is then used to charge the built-in rechargeable battery in the car. This is done by connecting a cable from the remote control to the car, and flipping the switch to charge mode. Thanks to smart design, this cable can be stowed and hidden away when not being used.
After about half an hour for charging, the car was ready to go. Right away, we set the car to wall climbing mode and set it on our wall. Though we'd read about what it was supposed to do, we were still very impressed when we saw the car stick to the wall and climb. You can see the vacuum working, as there is a window on the top of the car showing a spinning fan. The car makes quite a bit of sound when it is in wall mode.
Using the remote, we were able to make the car go up, turn left and right, and go down as well. With a tight turning radius, the car is very maneuverable and with some practice, youcan get the car to do exactly as you wish. In addition to Wall mode, there is also a Ground mode which leaves the fan/vacuum off, and lets you drive full function on the ground. You need to walk around with the car, however, as the remote has limited range. This is not as big a concern on walls because we were usually pretty close to the wall as the car was climbing it.
The car has working headlights that double as a battery indicator--when they start to blink, the car is running low on power.
Needs Clean, Smooth Surface The instructions warn that the car should be played only on a clean, smooth surface, and they're not kidding. Since the car is able to stay on walls due to suction, the moment an inconsistency is introduced, the car loses suction and falls off. We found that a surface like glass works very well. With our concrete wall, we often ran into problems with the car maintaining its suction. Coupled with the car's light construction, we fear that repeated abuse could cause damage to it.
Overall, we found the Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro to be an innovative and fun toy. We wished it were a bit more hefty and could work on more surfaces, but when we got it going on our window, we were very impressed. It's a great new idea and twist on an old toy, and is bound to keep children mesmerized.
What's in the Box AirHogs car, remote control unit, instructions.
REVIEW
MY FAVORITE TOY PICK FOR 2008! This has got to be the coolest Toy Invention in a very long time!Did you ever think you'd see an Remote Control car that could climb walls and ride upside down on the ceiling!! This is an awesome amazing toy that will leave you & your kids WOWed!! While the battery life could be longer, it dies out just when you'd had enough of the noise that comes along with it. I mean seriously parents - do you really want your kid racing this car around the walls and ceilings while your watching tv, doing the laundry, cooking dinner? For 20 minutes it's great and then after that you're happy for the battery to recharge until next time. This is a GENIUS invention & is sure to be a HOT TOY for years to come!
