Colorforms Revolution Review + iPad App Giveaway!

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly kids pick up on using new technology. When I bought my iPhone, I swear it took me a month to figure it out and I still haven't used half of it's capabilities a year in. My kids were very excited and pestered me relentlessly to use it. They wanted to play and I refused on the grounds of it being A) too expensive and B) too difficult.

My son, however, exceedingly enjoys the fact that he has since gone above and beyond proving me wrong, as has my daughter. First came the tablet; I still don't understand that thing at all (it is an android and I am not at all used to it's OS at all!) About a month ago he got an iPod touch (a gift from an amazing friend who no longer used it!) and has been a pro since day two. He has already shown me a few tricks on my phone. He gave his tablet to my daughter when he got his iPod--and she uses it like it is the simplest thing in the world. It pains me to no extent to tell her to ask her brother when she needs help, but I know from experience that I can't do much other than turn it off and on (aside from parental settings--those seem to be the same in most devices. Thank goodness!)

So with kids getting more and more tech savvy, it makes since that there are more and more apps being marketed towards children and families of all ages. With so many in the market--it is hard to choose which ones are appropriate and worth the effort and money to download. Is it simple to use? Glitch free? Age appropriate (which is one of  my biggest questions!)? Is it fun? Lucky for you, we have one that comes with our stamp of approval.

The app is called Colorforms Revolution and it is beyond cool! It is very simple so everyone will be able to use it--very young children as well as grandma! It allows you to use basic shapes and colors as well as backgrounds to create pictures. It's like a coloring book but you get to design it yourself and personalize the pages. You can even add your own pictures as backgrounds! Kids will have a ball creating pictures with their family members or pets in them.

In addition to shapes, there are also pre-loaded themes with stickers and backgrounds to choose from. These are super cute and fun for the kiddos as well as for anyone else using the app. There are other features as well such as puzzle animators and animated shapes that are sure to please and keep the kids occupied. Here is a look at the app in action:


From the press release:

It’s a bright new day for Colorforms…! The iconic 60-year-old brand from University Games that has changed the way generations of children have played is making its digital debut with the very first Colorforms app, Colorforms® Revolution™. The new app extends the traditional Colorforms experience, giving players fresh and fun ways to play with sound, motion and animation. Colorforms Revolution is now making a colorful splash on the App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

The revolution is finally here with COLORFORMS® REVOLUTION™ HD, the new iPad (and iPhone) app celebrates the nostalgia of the stand-out original and allows the family to experience Colorforms® like never before! Combine shapes, colors, patterns and backgrounds in endless combinations to create an infinite number of exciting designs. Or choose a Play Set with themed stickers and backgrounds, put them in a scene and a story is born. Play a Puzzle Board to build a picture and see it animate. Or go wild with the crazy circle, surprise square, kaleido-triangle and radical rectangle. With simple controls you’ll figure out as you go, Colorforms® is good wholesome fun for everyone. Just pick it up, start playing and join the revolution!

A pop culture favorite, Colorforms was invented in 1951 and more than 1 billion of the vibrant vinyl playsets have been sold to date, with imaginative new styles continuing to captivate families worldwide. Recently, the Toy Industry Association recognized Colorforms as one of the Top 100 Toys of the Century and TIME magazine named it among its “All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys.”

There is a free version of this app for download at the Apple app market, but we want to offer one reader their chance to get the Colorforms Revolution HD iPad App for free!

Here's how to enter:
Do you remember Colorforms? Did you play with them when you were young? Do you like it when your kids can enjoy the toys you grew up with? Why do you want to win? Leave your comments on this blog post, then enter on the RaffleCopter Widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read more...

Lafayette Puzzle Factory + Crayola= Super Fun for Kids! (And Educational, too!)

As a mom of a gifted child, I am always struggling to find toys that engage my son. It's hard to find the perfect balance of fun and educational, and many of the toys on the market are either 'fun' OR 'educational' no matter how hard the manufacturers try to hit both marks, I've found very few that have succeeded skillfully. Until now.

Over the summer I was introduced to the brand new Crayola Chalkboard USA Floor Puzzle. Manufactured by the Lafayette Puzzle Factory, this colorful floor puzzle is perfect for kids of any age to help assemble, although it's marked ages 6+. The 48 large pieces are perfect for little hands and young puzzle enthusiasts, but make for a very large puzzle. At 2'x3', it's perfect on the play room floor.

The kids loved that they could doodle all over it, and we loved the fact that it provides an excellent opportunity to have fun (while learning the names of the states, locations of the states, and distance between various locations), and get excited about learning about the USA!


The entire surface of this puzzle can be written on with chalk, although some of the colors are better than others. My only "con" with this item is that it only comes with one piece of chalk, so as soon as the kids opened it, they started arguing about who's chalk it was. Thankfully, we use a lot of sidewalk chalk, so I grabbed another colored piece, and we were good to go.

My husband and son enjoyed playing "Guess the State" and then we, (READ: My Husband and I) got into a very competitive round of who could name the most states from across the room. Then it continued to how many state capitals we could name. (I won that, hands down!) Abbie loved learning that Idaho makes potatoes, that Vermont is where we get our syrup from, and that Indiana is where the Lafayette Puzzle Factory is! Alex loved pointing out all of the different states that we have family in, and measuring the distance between them. Since then, he's started memorizing the capitals, and has even engaged in some pretend play with his sister (pretending he's a teacher, but still, pretending!), which is totally not his norm.

We had so much fun playing with this during the overly-rainy-summer, and still do! Very rarely do we have a puzzle last for longer than a week or two in our house, but this one has survived our super-hard-testers, (and our disorganized lives), which is why it has earned our "MUST HAVES" badge.

The Crayola Chalkboard Floor Puzzle is available with three different backgrounds, Playground Fun, Space Zone, and USA Map. The Playground Fun and Space Zone puzzles look as though they have less room to doodle on, but still look fun to play with overall. The Crayola Chalkboard Floor Puzzle has also received the 2010 Puzzle of The Year award from Creative Child Magazine.

I could see all three of these puzzles, (but more-so the map of the USA), being used in classrooms all over the world. Home schoolers or moms on the go could still get great pleasure over watching kids get excited about learning about their country, and have a blast expressing themselves artistically as well. You should start to see these products on the shelves of your local Toys R Us this fall.

Our new friends at Lafayette Puzzle Factory have offered one Chalkboard Floor Puzzle as a prize to one lucky 4BabyAndMom reader!


This giveaway is open to residents of the US. This giveaway will end on September 19, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and all winner information will be posted on our WINNERS PAGE and on this post. Please include a valid email address in your comment. If we cannot find a way to contact you we will not, we will choose another winner. We do try to email all winners, but due to the volume of giveaways offered on our site, delays can be expected. If you catch your name before we email you, please feel free to contact us first. :) Any unclaimed prizes will be redrawn accordingly and at the discretion of 4BabyAndMom. This product was provided to me at no cost by the Lafayette Puzzle Factory. As always, what you have read is strictly the opinion of 4BabyAndMom. Your opinions may differ.


CONGRATULATIONS!

Please refer to the WINNERS POST for more information on how to claim your prize.

Read more...