Review: DoodleJamz The Mess Free Drawing Pad For Creative Fun

AD DoodleJamz are a simple idea: they are a plastic frame with a soft with beads or gel in that you can move around to create pictures. Despite the simple concept they are great fun for children (and adults) providing hours of entertainment. They are a great price too which makes them a perfect for children to buy with their own money.

A 6 year old girl holding up DoodleJamz boards showing the Jellypic and Jellyboard
Unable to decide which DoodleJamz she likes best: Jellypics or Jellyboards

DoodleJamz tick all the boxes of a good pocket money toy:

Children can afford to buy them without saving their pocket money up for months.
They encourage creativity
They are fun
They aren’t messy
They don’t have a load of small parts that will be lost
If my children get bored of them then I’m happy to have them instead. 


A girl with a Doodlejamz jellyboard which she has written fab on
The DoodleJamz Jellyboard has 2 layers of gel

A tween girl holding up a doodlejamz jellypics board with an emoji she has given balls to
The DoodleJamz Jellypics have beads in you can move around


What are DoodleJamz?

There are two types of DoddleJamz: Jellypics have colourful beads inside and Jellyboards which have two different coloured layers of gel. They both have a plastic frame, a shaping stylus and a pocket at the back which comes with a removable background. You can go to Doodlejamz.com and upload any picture to be resized, printed out and slotted in the frame so you can have even more fun. Why not print out a selfie and pop it in the Jellypics frame to give yourself makeover?


Changing the background on DoodleJamz
You can take the background out of DoodleJamz and change it 

DoodleJamz are a lot of fun, but there is more to them than meets the eye. I have been using them with my 6 year old to practice her precursive letters and realised that she was struggling to spread the gel out again flat afterwards. This is a similar skill to spreading butter on bread requiring the stylus to be held flat and pushing at just the right pressure. This sort of fine motor control is difficult to practice, but the Jellyboard makes it fun. For an extra challenge you could try separating the two layers of gel. Our Jellyboard DoodleJamz had a top layer of red gel and a base layer of blue so if you push harder you move both layers, or by using a gentle pressure you can just move the red. I’m not going to tell you how long I have spent separating the gels as much as possible, but it kept me busy.

The Jellypics DoodleJamz are a lot of fun because you can decorate the emoji background and make fun shapes. If you really want to get children to stay quiet for a while (or you want to spend a mindless hour or so yourself) then you can try and separate the different coloured beads. It’s possible, but it will take time, patience and focus.

Next time you have a train journey with your children, an appointment you might be waiting around for or maybe even a meal out where you want to keep your children happy I recommend slipping a DoodleJamz into your bag. They are compact and can be wiped clean making them great for taking out and about.

Buy DoodleJamz from Smyths Toys Superstore now.

Drawing on a DoodleJamz board with a finger
You can use the included stylus or your fingers

Close up of a jellyboard where a 6 year old has drawn a smiley face in the gel
Move the coloured gel to make a picture

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