Monthly Archives: September 2016

Television

It Is Time to Use Your Imagination With Kazoops

Kazoops-Logo-TM
This post is part of a sponsored campaign for Kazoops. I received compensation for my participation, but my review and opinions are my own.

Monty_JJ_Key_Art_Cuddle_Room_Vertical_No_Logo

Andrew and I watched the first episode of the new Netflix show, Kazoops. It was adorable. The show is for children ages 3-6. It is bright and colorful and there are some cute songs, which did not get stuck in my head, so that is great. I’ve watched so many kids shows in the past 10 years that I am grateful to ones that have solid songs that you can enjoy, but not find yourself absentmindedly singing. The show follows the adventures of six-year old Monty and his best friend, Jimmy Jones, the family pet pig. Monty has a mom, dad, grandmother and older sister also in his family. Monty uses his vivid imagination to challenge preconceptions about life such as “you have to wear matching socks” or “all games need rules” and, in doing so, demonstrates the value of critical thinking and creative play.

You can watch the official trailer on the Kazoops YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWdf8VLC8sjQ0D0-aI8_59A

Creative is an excellent way to describe the show. From the episode I saw it was a nice show with some creative animation. There are moments in the show when Monty closes his eyes and tells his pig, Jimmy Jones, “just imagine”. It is then that the animation changes from a 3D sort of animation to a more 2D animation. Those moments the animation has a real paper feel to it. It is quite beautiful. You just know that Monty is in his creative zone during those moments of imagination. Monty is a kid who is so full of life and curiosity. He’s looking for ways to accomplish things, but in his own unique way. The problem solving is also more subtle than other kids shows, it does not hit you over the head with the message. Kids pick up on the message without hearing it over and over. Continue reading It Is Time to Use Your Imagination With Kazoops →

Grab Bag, Review, Toys

Extraordinay Problem Solving with The EXTRAORDINAIRES

Eva working on her EXTRAORDINAIRES

At Blogger Bash, Sweet Suite 2016 I went by the booth for The Creativity Hub. I saw The EXTRAORDINAIRES and was so impressed, I knew that it would be something perfect for Eva. So, I requested the The EXTRAORDINAIRES Design Studio to review and we had one sent to us for free to review. Opinions about it are 100% our own.

I had Eva help me with a quick video intro and we didn’t have time for her to play with the design studio that day, she was bummed out, she wanted to dive right into it. The Design Studio is a self contained design product for kids. The game centers around The EXTRAORDINAIRES, 15 characters with very special needs. The challenge is to create different objects for these characters. Objects like an item to wash with for a Fairy who is a detective or spy. A special chair for a ninja who is also a drummer in a band. These characters are on beautifully illustrated cards. Their images are on the front and their special needs are on the back. Players choose a card with the object and then they can use additional cards called Think cards. Designers need to think about three basic things when creating their objects or gadgets. Those are Research, Design and Improve. The actual Design Studio case is so well designed. It is almost like a laptop in the design. There are spaces for all the cards and a place to put the design paper, plus it comes with a pen to use to create.

I was right about Eva loving this product. She dove right in and started designing. She’s done one a day since I gave her the studio. I can see how her thought process and problem solving skills will continue to improve as she challenges herself to create even better objects for The EXTRAORDINAIRES.

There is also this great research project that The Creativity Hub did with The EXTRAORDINAIRES.