uDraw GameTablet for budding Picasso's

I've been having a bit of interactive fun with my daughter lately and we've been enjoying the uDraw GameTablet for the Nintendo Wii.  It's a lovely piece of kit and can keep the youngsters entertained for hours.

The packaging of the uDraw has been well thought out, it gives all the information you need to make a purchasing decision in a bright colourful (but not at all garish) design.

The tablet is a small compact unit measuring 9 x 7 inches, so much like a small notebook or similar device with a drawing area of 6 x 4. The tablet has a connected stylus pen which you use instead of the Wii remote to control the pointer on the screen. The pointer is obviously your pen, pencil, paintbrush etc - whatever you choose as your artist tool. Down the side of the tablet is the remote control slot, you simply connect your Wii remote into this area and the tablet takes its power from your connector.  There's even a little compartment to tuck your wrist strap into so you don't have to take it off your controller.

Complete in the box is the uDraw Studio game, this enables you to free draw, paint etc or use a variety of pre-drawn pictures and designs for you to colour. These range from prehistoric dinosaurs and wildlife to abstract art.

There's a complete colour range palette so you can select the exact colour you want, you can also select from a range of medium types - such as water colour, oils, acrylic etc - so that the resulting image looks like it would if you were using the real thing. Only this time you stay clean and so do the kids.  Make a mistake and you simply erase and restart.

Also your artistic creations can be saved into the studio memory and / or printed for your delight.

The GameTablet makes use of the movement abilities of the Wii including the tilt and motion sensors. The stylus has a smooth button along the finger line that acts as the C and Z buttons of the normal remote.

The uDraw GameTablet is easy to connect, easy to understand and easy to play with. It's actually quite therapeutic and was a complete break from the manic of Portal 2 and Crysis 2.

We only had a chance to play with the uDraw studio that comes with the tablet, but that was enough to keep the little one amused for some time. So much so she's asked for one for her birthday in August.  There are some games available to play with the uDraw including the family fun game Pictionary and a children's character adventure game.

The uDraw GameTablet has an RRP of £65 however you can find it in Game stores and online for about £50.  If you've got a passion for art, or fancy having a digital art hobby then give it a whirl.

If you've got young children then this is a great tool for them to enhance their creative skills.

Definitely worth  spending £50 on this summer.