Another good idea from the smart folks at Gymboree! This poster kit comes with a huge ready-to-color mural poster, crayons, themed color-on stickers, a class pass for Gymboree (check local availability), and as usual some unique learning activities to go with this fun craft. It is available in a pirate theme (as pictured) or a princess castle, age 3+.

The hype started when this package arrived in the mail. My son started doing a gorilla dance, whooping and jumping around as I struggled with the pesky packing tape. Once it was finally opened he looked at it, gasped in delight, and ran off with it clutched to his chest. He locked himself in his room; I could hear tearing noises as he yanked the pieces free from the (no longer reusable) carrying case. By the time I screwdrivered the door open, he was totally engrossed in the activity. I finally had the chance to see properly what this was all about.

The large poster is whimsically drawn and ready to be colored in. The easiest way to do this is to mount it on the wall (convenient, because that's my son's favorite canvas anyway!). The scene is quite detailed and takes some time to complete. My son's attention span didn't last long enough, so then he let his little brother have a crack at it. So now we have a large pirate poster - half neatly colored, half scribbled and drooled on. Quite an objet d'art!

Your first thought might be: "this is just a big poster! Do I really need to spend money on this?" And you wouldn't be wrong. This masterpiece is now in its death throes in the playroom floor, getting stomped on and recolored to the point of uselessness. But, as with other Gymboree products I've seen, there is more to this set than just a big piece of paper. You have the free Gymboree class pass (which I've yet to use), and as always there are great suggestions for play that you can apply to this and any other craft. They are divided by age-appropriateness and have examples for extended play.

Some cool ideas are:
-painting with ice to create watery hues
-using salt to make neat patterns with watercolors
-adding other craft supplies to make your picture more tactile
-tell a story about the pirates' adventures
-finding geometric shapes in the pictures
-and many more!

My only regret is that we didn't get it in the princess design too.