Creating Memories with Blankz {review}

I broke my camera, so this is an example of what you can do…hopefully I can get you a picture of Chloe’s soon!

Probably my daughter’s favorite thing to do (after talking) is to color. She rarely goes more than two to three hours without her crayon box and coloring book in hand. She takes every notebook she can find and every piece of scrap mail. She colors them with shapes and designs. She draws pictures of animals, people and so many fantastical things. She begs for empty cardboard boxes to color and create rocket ships for her brother, tables for her dolls and houses for imaginary pets.  At four years old, I am always so impressed with her artistry – especially considering I’m just socially awkward when it comes to art.

Because of her love of art (she is always telling me she is an artist), I’m always looking for the next fun art project that she can try. Enter Blankz. Blankz are plain white stuffed animals (another obsession of both my kids) that come with a set of five markers: red, yellow, green, blue and black. You use the markers to color the white animal anyway you want.

When I took the little cow (No Bully was his name) from the package and then handed my daughter the pack of markers, her eyes lit up. “Can I color on the cow?” I told her to have at it and she actually giggled with glee. I went in the other room with my husband for a bit and when I returned, I was so impressed with her completed cow. She beamed ear from ear. “Mommy, this is Moo Moo. Isn’t he cute? That was so much fun. I wish I could do it again.”

Well that’s the awesome thing about Blankz. After you’re done coloring them, you can throw them in the wash with your darks and wash them on warm using your regular dish detergent. When the wash is done, throw your Blankz back into dryer and dry it. When it comes out, it is all clean to color again. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how well that works – it is only in theory. When I told Chloe that we could wash “Moo Moo” and then color it again, she became really sad about it. She didn’t want to lose her artwork. I know she’ll let me wash it eventually, but as of this time it is a no go!

So what’s my opinion of Blankz. These are awesome little toys. Priced at $14.95 each, you can chose from a rabbit, bear, pig, elephant, cow, seal or dog. They are a bit smaller than I thought looking at the website, but after she was done I thought if they were much bigger, she couldn’t snuggle it right AND it would have taken forever to color. The toys are rated for ages 5+ and I’m sure that has to do with the markers, but I intend to buy one for my 2-year-old as well. This kind of toy is right up his alley. I think as long as he is monitored, there shouldn’t be an issue – just lots of mess which will wash off.

We’re not afraid of messes at our house. Chloe did make one with the Blankz, but that’s the artist at work. She had the markers all over the backs of her hand (from coloring so feverishly and slipping). But I was disappointed by the fact that the colors continue to bleed off the toy as the day went on. When Finn got up from his nap, Chloe couldn’t wait to show him “Moo Moo”. After a few minutes, he was covered in the colors from the cow – hands and face (because of course it went in his mouth like everything else). And the color doesn’t wash off your hands quiet as easily as I expected. Chloe washed for a good 5 minutes with soap and warm water and the color remained. However, by bath time the next night, it was all gone from both kids, so no big deal, in my opinion.

Would I recommend Blankz? Absolutely. They are fun little toys that anyone (child or adult) would love to color. Such a great way to express your creativity on something more than a piece of paper that will eventually find its way into the trash. I also love the fact that she can continue to express her creativity over and over again.

Check out Blankz on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, visit Pinterest to see other masterpieces or stop by their website to buy your own! Or take your chances at winning one of two Blankz they are offering to one of our awesome readers in the Keeping Kids Creative Event!  Happy coloring!!!