Monday, June 11, 2007

Mickey Mouse Wacky Water 4-Square Mat



Yesterday I was looking in Target for a sprinkler for the kids to play in when I came across yet another Mickey Mouse branded item that I just had to have! The Mickey Mouse and Friends Wacky Water 4-Square Mat by Big Time Toys is a large mat you connect to a garden hose featuring bright colorful graphics of Mickey, Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy. I bought it not for the 4-Square aspect but for the sprinkler/Wacky Water effect which is good because I don't really see how anyone could play 4-Square on this mat. The mat is too small to play a game of 4-square, you can see that from the illustration on the box. Even very small children would have trouble standing in their square and bouncing a ball. Also, balls don't bounce on water! It is recommended that the mat be set up on grass and since this thing can get kind of slippery, that's a good idea. However, little pools of water build up in the different squares making it impossible to bounce a little beach ball and play a real game of 4-Square.


HOWEVER, the mat does work as a fun sprinkler fountain for little kids. Water shoots up and out from several spots in the yellow area between the characters. My kids had a great time splashing in the puddles, jumping through the gentle jets of water and getting soaked all over this thing. One of the neat things is when you step on the space between the squares the water pressure in the jets completely changes and the water shoots even higher or lower. It caught the kids off guard everytime and was great fun. It actually reminded us of larger fountains that kids can play in at Walt Disney World.


All in all, a fun product! It's not the game that it claims to be, but it's a unique alternative to a kiddie pool or a regular sprinkler.

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