Snapdoodle in Kenmore…the Perfect Toy Store!

It’s not every day a toystore has a birthday.  When Snapdoodle, just turning one year old in Kenmore, announced the

festivities, my seven year old and I could not resist visiting on the big day. A toy store in Kemore, on the north end of Lake Washington, Snapdoole shows oodles of both heart and soul as it provides the high end of what’s available in the toy world for learning and fun. This is a shopping destination for anyone with kids in their life.

There are some very wonderful toy stores in the Seattle Metro area.  How could it be otherwise with our highly educated

highly motivated kid population?  After all, Seattle is not the “best educated city in the U.S.” for nothing.  Still, with all the choice and variety, I would find it hard to choose any of them over Snapdoodle, our new favorite place to play and dream.  There is a Doodle Zone art corner where classes and events are held during the summer, (why not go to the Snapdoodle Website for information on their art classes starting in May and their summer programs?) and other projects and festivities take place (including birthday parties complete with an art leader and a fun project and clean up provided).

According to their website, during their first year, Snapdoodle “served over 3,300 free lattes,” sent over 600 birthday cards, donated over $5,000 to local schools and organizations, and (wow!) won Evening Magazine’s Best Children’s Store of Western Washington award for 2008! 

Coming into the store you might think you’re entering an alpine chalet.  That’s because this large two story building reminiscent of a Bavarian Village once housed a well-known German restaurant.  Now home to a fairytale-like toy store with everything Santa ever created for the very best behaved little boys and girls, the building is a landmark along NE Bothell Way which circles the “top” or north end of Lake Washington.

Snapdoodle has so many sections and cubbys and shelves full of facinating games and toys and books that wherever

you look, you go.  There is no way to methodically go through this shop, and I must confess I didn’t even try to find out everything that is there.  I know when you enter you are in the first of four main rooms.  Off to the left is a maze of shelves filled with goodies, but I don’t know what as I wandered straight ahead to the toy stuffed dragons.  Off to the

right an area of books and exquisite crafts.  Entering the second room a bank of bins offers little thises and thats (dice, toy turtules, marbles) before opening out into an area with tables where kids can try out a selected craft or fiddle with some of the manipulatives or puzzles.  There is an inviting island staffed with friendly folk and a cash register or two, with trees growing out of it.  Behind that is a whole section devoted to trains and bouncy things. 

Snapdoodle’s First Birthday Party was a rousing success, when we arrived the store was filled with parents and young children.  When we came in the door we were offered a raffle ticket for a selection of toy boxes that were prepared in the Doodle Zone art

room.  Each child is asked to drop his ticket into the bag attached to the box that he would like to win.  There was face painting, coffee and cupcakes, birthday cake, and all kinds of craft and play activities to join into.  My son joined a group that was doing ink

painting, and created a fish in a rainbow of warm colors.  The lady conducting the activity was an artist that sometimes runs crafts for the store, and she explained to me that most kids don’t connect to making art because they are given poor materials to work with.  Some of the crayons and so forth on the supermarket shelves these days just are not very inspiring, she explained.  Part of making art for kids is the interaction between playing with the media and with the ideas that come to you as you explore what you can do with it.  That doesn’t happen when you have  a box of waxy crayons that don’t produce much color and snap too easily.  I saw her point, and I think my next selection for a birthday present is going to involve some high quality art materials (they wrap!).

My son loves the little knights and horses figures which he started collection a couple years ago (perfect size for stocking stuffers if you don’t mind spending about a thousand dollars filling up a stocking) and found a rinocerous-headed warrior to add to his collection.  But he had to choose between that and a box full of assorted card games, a bouncing horse ball (too young for him but enormous fun for the first 15 minutes) and several other beguiling choices.

Thank you, Snapdoodle, for a fun party, yummy cupcakes, great company and conversation, and for the day-long 20% discount on a toy, which you offered to all who attended your celebration.  We’ll be back way before you turn two!

 

Edy Kizaki
Realtor, Team Leader
edy@seattlepowersearch.com
206-402-9155