Doodle Bear: Penny the Enchanted Flower

I am sure many parents have went through the process of cleaning marks and colorings off places where there should have never been marks. I must admit I am one of those parents too. There have been numerous dolls and yes walls (sigh) that have been colored on before I had a chance to stop it. My daughter loves to draw and color. She has painted Barbie’s tiny fingernails with crayons and has went through numerous coloring books.

A few weeks ago I saw a commercial for a new toy out made specifically for children to color on. It caught my attention as much as it did my daughter’s, who promptly told me, ” Mommy, I need that!” When I went to pick the toy out, I actually bought two of these bears so the other one would have a “friend” (as my daughter says). The first bear’s name is Penny the Enchanted Flower Bear Doodle Bear , and for 15.99 each we brought Penny and her bear friend (Markie) home with us.

Penny the Enchanted Flower Bear Doodle Bear

Penny is an adorable 1 pound stuffed bear that stands about 16 inches. Penny is a soft and plush, and comes in a light pink color. She wears cute faded blue jeans with a rainbow striped belt (attached to the jeans). She also carries a matching blue jean bag with a rainbow striped strap and pretty pink flowers in the corner. This bag can be used to put 2 washable markers in, which are also included with Penny (our markers were purple and orange, however if may be possible that the marker colors vary). Penny also has a blue and pink flowered head band on her head that makes her look like the perfect hippie/flower bear. She has a blue belly button and an adorable little faces with arched eyebrows and blue eyes. She also has a cute upside down triangle nose that is the same shade of blue color as her jeans, head band, and bag. Penny’s legs are bendable, so if she leaned against a wall she can sit by herself.

As I said before, Penny comes with two washable markers. These markers can be used to draw all over Penny wherever and whenever you want. Whenever Penny is ready to be cleaned, simply toss her into the washer on low. After drying on low also (this is not a must, she also dries pretty fast by herself), Penny is then all cleaned up and ready to be colored on again.

Our Experience with Penny the Enchanted Flower Bear Doodle Bear

As soon as Penny and her friend were opened, my daughter’s attention was on the two bears for hours. She was so delighted that she was able to scribble and color on dolls and not get reprimanded for it. I tried the markers myself and noticed they went on the bear without any problems. The markers are easy enough for my 4 year old to grasp, however this product shouldn’t be used by children under the age of three because of choking hazards (the top of the markers are removable and are small). Penny had markings all over . There did not seem to be one inch of her that was not colored or doodled on. I really did not think that all the markings would be removed. But, to my surprise, Penny came right out of the washing machine with not even one mark on her. My daughter was extremely pleased with this, but within minutes poor Penny was drenched in kid doodle again. Over the course of two weeks, Penny has been washed several times. Through out all the washings, she has not fallen apart and she still looks new. After every wash, no markings have ever been left on her.

The only complaint I can think of about Penny is the markers. Yes, they are safe and they wash off easily. However, I have a child that presses down hard when she colors and the orange marker was not working as well only a week after we bought Penny. A few days later the orange marker could not be used at all. I searched online and in stores for replacement markers but I have not been able to locate any at all for these particular bears. I would not recommend trying other washable markers for the doodle bears. For $15.99, I would hate to see the bears get marks on them that do not clean off like their original markers do. For the time being, we are using Markie’s markers for Penny as well, and waiting for a new marker to shipped to us. The manufacturers were extremely pleasant (Play Along) and did not have a problem replacing anything.

Final Recommendation

If you have a doodler, please bring Penny home. This little bear is cuddly and delightful and seems to be a sturdy bear as well. After multiple washings, Penny still looks as new as can be. I realize Penny is probably a girl bear, but there are lots of these bears out there. There are others that would suit a boy’s taste better than Penny would.

All in all, despite the minor marker problem, my daughter loves her doodle bears. If they were not so expensive, she would have already had more than 2. For now though, we are happy with Penny and Markie.