Toys R Us have sent us the Reeve's Scraperfoil Gift Set to test out. The set consists of 3 pre-printed boards of a dolphin, a unicorn and some dogs, a scrapertool, a practice piece of board and instructions on how to make three engraved silver pictures.
Kizzy 9, along with big sister Megan and future sister in law Jade, set about scraping the foil to make the pictures. The boards are pre-printed with faint guidelines which you scrape away with the tool. With broad strokes, stipples, texturing and freehand lines you can make your own engraving.
Megan, who usually loves art projects could not use the scrapertool at all. She doesn't hold pens in the usual way, and consequently could not scrape away the top layer. She couldn't get the right angle to use it. So she was out! The box says not to be used by children under 36 months, so I'm assuming that implies it is recommended for children aged 3 and up as there is no age recommendation. However, within a very short time it was clear that Kizzy was struggling and getting frustrated. I stepped in to help her. It was not very easy to do neatly and there is definitely a bit of a knack to doing it. This is an activity for older children.
Jade however, really enjoyed doing the Scraperfoil. She did a great job on the dog picture but she did say it hurt her hand and she would like the scrapertool to be a bit more comfortable to use, possibly with a soft end to hold. She also said she would like to have blank sheets included so you could create your own designs and not be tied to the pre-printed pictures.
This is a very time consuming and tricky activity, that is definitely more suitable for older kids with a lot of patience. Some people may really struggle to do the scraperfoil as my eldest daughter did. But, in the hands of someone who can do it, the end result is quite impressive.