My husband and I love going out to eat when we can.  After a long hard day, it's nice to relax at a family restaurant and let someone else wait on you while dinner's being prepared!  :thumbs up:  Riley, being the active little girl that she is, always needs plenty to do to keep her busy when she's not eating.  This way, her father and I can enjoy a peaceful meal and have some engaging conversation.

We have several travel toys in our arsenal for restaurant night, so of course, I was very interested when I saw the Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit from Educational Resources.  Was it able to captivate my daughter's full attention while on the go?  Keep reading to find out!

The Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit is the portable version of the extremely popular Design & Drill Power Tool Workshop.  It includes a sturdy plastic case which lays completely flat when in use and folds up compactly when it's not.  There is even a convenient handle so that little ones can tote this mini toolkit with them anywhere.

The Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit comes complete with a battery-operated screwdriver requiring 3 "AA" batteries (not included), three screwdriver bits and 60 brightly colored 2" bolts.  With a quick switch of the red sliding button, children can use the electronic screwdriver to either screw in or remove the colored bolts.

This toolkit also comes with an activity guide which challenges older children to follow the 10 included patterns in the booklet as well as create their own.  With these patterns, your child can follow the directions to make a smiley face, sailboat, fish and other interesting geometric designs.  I loved this idea, for it took a construction toolkit and made it much more crafty, or in my opinion, girl-friendly.

The only thing that I didn't like about the design of the Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit, is that the foldable container itself isn't wide enough to store the screwdriver inside with the bolts screwed in.  If you want to be able to close this toolkit and store the electronic screwdriver inside, you must remove the bolts from the outer surface, otherwise the container won't close.  This isn't very handy when eating out at a restaurant, for you have to unscrew all of the bolts before leaving.

Riley absolutely loves the Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit from Educational Insights though!  She can sit quietly and play with the different colored bolts and the electronic screwdriver for long periods of time at a stretch.  You can tell that she really enjoys figuring out which way to slide the red button on the screwdriver in order to accomplish her goal with the bolts too.  Now, with the Design & Drill Take-Along Toolkit, family time at the restaurant is truly enjoyable for all!  :big grin: