My daughter suffers from a form of Autism. She is a very talented artist and writer, but does not like sharing her work. She will very grudgingly let me, and her grandma look at SOME of her drawings and writing, but honestly, I dont think she knows how to process the attention and praise she gets if everyone else see's her creations. Her little brother however, thinks its great fun to take her things and show them off, effectively causing a meltdown. What are little brothers for after-all? Teasing and annoying big Sisters. When Mattel offered to let us try out the Password Journal, I had an AHA moment. Somewhere that's just hers. Private. Where she can feel secure about storing her things.
The Password Journal arrived very promptly and my daughter and I both loved all the suggestions and ideas on the box itself for things she could do with it. Setting it up was a breeze. The directions are very straight forward and easy to understand. We had it up and running in minutes. My daughter loves the voice password and intruder alert feature. The invisible ink pen is a big hit as well. That gives her a little added sense of security. Shes carried it with her everywhere since we received it, and I have a feeling she will for a long time to come. Id definitely recommend this to any parent for their child. Thanks, Mattel. For giving my little girl her privacy back!
My 6 year old daughter loves this password journal, It is so easy for her to use. She loves to write and draw so this is perfect for her to keep her notebook safe from her younger sister. She loved getting to create her own password and even the intruder message, that was her favorite part. It comes with an invisible ink pen that shows up in the black light of the case, so she loves to write secret messages with that pen. The journal only comes with a little notebook with few pages, so not much writing will be done in it without replacing, but she loves it and that's all that matters.
Pros: well made, easy to use, small notebook included
I remember keeping a diary as a little girl. One of the biggest things I had an issue with was keeping it hidden so that my siblings could not read it and tease me about it. I would have loved to have this product and would probably have used it daily. My Password Journal would have been a huge hit with my generation because keeping a diary was a common thing when I was growing up. While I love the idea and the design I feel that this is one of those toys that will be played with briefly and then forgotten. Kids don't keep diaries any more because of all the technology they have to play with these days. When we first received the journal all three of my girls were intrigued. They wanted to try out every feature, write in the journal and unlock/lock it over and over again. After a couple days however, none of them seemed to care about it. The small notepad only lasted two days and my 9 year old was out of paper and left with a shell of a journal that she just opens and closes over and over again. She does store a few small trinkets in the hideaway but other then that she has pretty much lost all interest in the toy. The microphone is very sensitive so if you are in a room with other people you will most likely not be able to open the journal because it has to be completely silent. We also didn't care for the voice that they chose to use. It is obnoxious. There are a few things that are very cool about this product though. The intruder alert is really nifty. You can record yourself warning the intruder to put the journal down. It also has some good writing suggestions and allows you to record your own. Overall, I think this is a great concept. I just feel that in this age of technology it is lacking a bit. It has a very 80's/90's feel to it. If you have a child that loves to journal and will keep up with it, you may have better luck than I, but after only a few days this toy is already forgotten and most likely will see very little use.
My 7 year old daughter loved this notebook. She loves the hidden box inside and love that the pen is a magic pen that can only be seen with the blue light. She wished that it came with more paper but she loves it.