Ravensburger Xoomy Animals

The kids loved it.

My eight-year-old daughter absolutely loves to do crafts and mess around with markers and paper, so I knew this product would be right up her alley. The minute the package arrived at our door, she raced off to give it a try.In order for the toy to function, you'll need 4 AA batteries, which were not included. I swear, my kids must eat them because we had to scour the house looking for some rechargeables that weren't already being used in some other toy or video game controller. I wish I'd had the forethought to make sure I had enough before the toy arrived, because my daughter was pretty distraught when we had trouble finding batteries. I guess Amazon's happy, though, as it meant I ended up ordering some more batteries.That aside, the toy itself is encased in a pretty sturdy green plastic shell. I don't think it would take a lot of beating, though, so some careful treatment is required. The transparent plastic window on the top of the device, along with the round piece that covers the bulb are both pretty sturdy. The toy comes with a small, black felt-tip pen, 10 sheets of paper, and 20 disks, along with a cardboard piece that can be used as a sort of screen to make the projected image easier to see. The screen was a disappointment as it goes without saying that the cardboard can very easily and quickly be trashed. I wish this piece had been plastic instead.To draw, you simply place one of the twenty animal disks over the bulb, close the toy, lay a sheet of paper over the transparent window, and trace the image. My daughter had tons of fun trying out various wheels and then coloring the pictures in. The toy was very easy for her to use, and she was proud to show us her results. She really likes the felt-tip pen, but it can be easily swapped for a pencil or a magic marker if the pen runs out of ink.When your child is finished playing, they simply put the disks in the little compartment reserved for them, and then put the remaining pieces in the unit before closing the lid and clasping it shut. It's about the size of a small purse and it's not very heavy, so it's definitely easily portable. I can imagine taking it someplace like a restaurant or the airport, and it would keep your child entertained for a good stretch of time.However, the paper is an odd size for the U.S. If you're really particular, you can trim regular paper to the proper size, but that would frankly be a pain. We have a 6 in x 9 in tablet of drawing paper that works fairly well for replacement purposes. You can either cut the paper in half or lay the full-sized sheet over the unit (it will cover the entire surface area and then some) and then just move it over to draw on the remaining portion. This isn't ideal because it means you can't slide the paper under the little lip on the screen, so it's harder to hold the sheet in place while drawing.The paper issue and the cardboard screen knock what would otherwise be a five-star product down to four stars. Still, this is a nice toy for any budding artist.

When I first saw this product, I thought of my younger grandkids who are budding artists, but on second thought I decided to get it for myself since I've never been a very good artist. Actually, I was never interested because my passion has always been writing, so I was never concerned about it.But along came a computer game called DrawSomething and I was invited by several friends to play. I found I truly enjoyed the break from work, but was ashamed of my little drawings. I enjoy doing the stick figures and with all the colors and various width of the "lines," I got better as I went along. I proudly display them (even on my Facebook TimeLIne); risking the laughter. But it's fun to laugh at oneself at times...Anyway, I figured this would help me improve my drawing dimensions and animal skills. I'm much better with the tiny peeps than with animals, BTW, I find myself laughing a lot while playing DrawSomething, not only at my own work but at others'. And that's a good thing...I don't need to describe the pros and cons because other reviewers are doing a great job at that. It's sufficient for me to say that I'm having a blast with my Xoomy and my animal drawings are improving too.Ravensburger Xoomy Animals is a quality product, but like another reviewer I notice the cardboard shade is fraying already, For that reason I could only give four stars on durability. Even at that, I highly recommend it for the fun factor...for the little kid in all of us.I'm an octogenarian, so it's obvious you can teach an old dog new tricks.Reviewed by Betty Dravis, June 18, 2012Author of "The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley"

I was a little iffy when I got this for my 5 year old daughter. Because as an adult I kept thinking of the limitations... only 20 patterns, a few sheets of paper, and the colored pencils that are shown in the photo are not even included. But I gave it a shot anyways and after showing her how I traced the projected image, she colored it. And I thought "okay, so now I'm making her coloring pages, this is less than ideal." Then we used the segmented disc that let you mix up the body parts of different animals and she loved the Bear-a-roo we made, okay it's a cool trick, but I'm getting tired of drawing (although I must say the included felt pen is very nice). So, I tell her she'll have to do it on her own. She was hesitant at first, but once she saw an image appear that she had made, she was hooked. By the end of the day every family member had their own colored image that she had traced herself. With the following days, the interest didn't wane, she wanted to keep using it. She didn't care that she drew the same images over and over, or that she had to use her own crayons. She didn't worry about the number of sheets that came with it. She just kept drawing and told me how much she loved it. For me that's a win. So if you have a young child in your home and you want to encourage drawing, tracing, coloring, or penmanship it well worth the try.

I can only mostly ditto the remarks already made by other reviewers.The Ravensburger Xoomy Animals is compact and fun for younger kids. Had good luck with it with a 4 and a 6 year old.That said, as others have noted, it's also not that sturdy and the paper size is non-standard. This is *yet another* toy that requires assistance from an adult who will have to pre-cut sheets of paper to fit. It's not that it's that big a deal for this product. Rather, it's accumulative. Why couldn't they come up with a more standard size of paper? Why make more work for the end user? Okay, enough on that - it's not a deal breaker.If your child likes drawing this product might be of interest. I would definitely recommend anyone to check this out in a store before buying, however.

Unser Enkel hat es sich zu Weihnachten gewünscht und ist total begeistert.

Superbe idée cadeau, éducatif et permet un travail de qualité en toute autonomie. Mon neveu a été ravi. Produit de qualité avec calque déporté via une lampe / pile permettant de reproduire de nombreux dessins.

Envío rápido y producto perfecto

It doesn t work....

A mi hijo de 6 años le encanta dibujar y quería un proyector para su cumpleaños, vi varios proyectores, algunos son muy caros, y leí que después la tarjeta se estropea pronto.Asi que tras leer opiniones me decanté por este.Es simple, lo puede manejar sólo el niño, no es pretencioso ni trae tarjeta SD, está bien de precio cumple su función, ayudar a dibujar, que se divierta haciendolo y lo haga autonomamente. Trae las proyecciones de animales, son circulares, justo lo que señala, hay otros por lo que lei de otros motivos.La luz ilumina perfectamente el dibujo sin necesidad de oscurecer la habitación y lo único por lo que no tiene un 5 estrellas es porque el folio has de recortarlo para que quepa en el espacio a dibujar,que tampoco pasa nada.A mi hijo le gustó mucho cuando lo recibió como regalo, no estaba dispuesto a pagar 90 euros por un proyector como otros que hay en el mercado, ( perfecto quien lo quiera hacer) sé por experiencia con mi otra hija, que los proyectores, como otros juguetes son de tiempo limitado en su motivación, unos días les encantan y luego lo dejan, volviendolo a retomar esporádicamente.Este es pequeñito, mejor para guardarlo, y divertido, el precio razonable.Lo recomiendo.