Manhattan Toy Imagine I Can Series {Review & Giveaway}

If there's one thing that my girls love to do, it is arts & crafts projects. Even just a glimpse of some paints or glitter glue will start the Oooh, can we... and I know! We can... as their minds start to whirl.

But, after a while, I have a hard time coming up with anything more creative for them other than a stack of paper, glue and markers... which usually just ends up a sticky pile that gets thrown away due to the lack of interest in really doing anything with it.

What they (and I) typically need is to be pointed in a general direction. Once we're provided with ideas for something unique and fun to do, it's not long before we're inspired to come up with something original and imaginative.

Even better, when everything we need is all together in one creative, affordable kit from Manhattan Toy, we know that we're in for a really great time.

On a mission to inspire imaginative play so kids and moms smile, Manhattan Toy was founded in 1979 and has been introducing delightful new toys ever since. Most recently, the launch of the brand new Imagine I Can series of 28 appealing arts & crafts, do-it-yourself, role-play, puppet kits and more are already proving that Manhattan Toy knows how to encourage entertainment and creativity.

With topics including knitting, pet rocks, castles, caterpillars and fairies in prices ranging from $5 to $20, the hardest decision is narrowing down the Imagine I Can options to just one favorite. Painting, coloring, constructing, building — how to decide?

Fortunately, we were able to see three of these innovative kits in person to get an idea of how much fun they all could provide.

As I looked over the Create-A-Puppet Alligator, Create & Color Puppy and the Sew Sweet kits, I was immediately impressed that Manhattan Toy had included every piece and tool needed all in one convenient package. Whether pulling one of these out to keep a child occupied during traveling or at home on a rainy day, it was all here ready and waiting.

With the girls and I headed on a spring break vacation, I knew that these kits would be the perfect thing to pack to keep them busy during the flight or while passing some downtime on the trip. Sure enough, when I pulled them out, their eyes widened with interest.

I don't think that the Imagine I Can Create & Color Puppy kit could have been any more intuitive and easy to complete. All I had to do was hand over the sturdy cardboard pieces for Little Sister B to color (Big Sister E ended up joining in as well) and punch out and then assembling them into the dog was as simple as matching one number to its partner in the provided slots.

What started out as two sets of blank pieces...

...soon turned into a colorful, creative, artistic (maybe if you squint really hard?) dog...

...that both girls were thrilled over.

Manhattan Toy even includes a cute background scene to color and cut out right from the inside of the box! (Unfortunately someone here went a little overboard with the scissors and cut it into pieces, but I thought it was great that it was there in the first place.

At the same time, the Imagine I Can Create-A-Puppet Alligator provided Big Sister E with an easy way to practice following directions as she folded and assembled each of the pieces using the provided double-sided tape strips.

By completing each step on the instruction sheet...

...she soon turned a piled of colorful pieces and tape into an adorable, friendly alligator pal!

We found that the small double-sided tape wasn't quite enough to hold the alligator's spikes in place along the top of his mouth, but a little extra tape solved that problem with ease. Once that was set, Al the Alligator was ready for play!

I love that Manhattan Toy even added in the small handles on the inside of the alligator to make it even easier to open and close his mouth.

Both the Create & Color Puppy and Create-A-Puppet Alligator kits are designed for ages 3+ so I had no doubt that my kids would be able to complete them without any struggles (which ended up being the case).

However, my initial concerns about the Imagine I Can Sew Sweet kit and it's 8+ age recommendation were dashed not long after Big Sister E and I looked over the tremendous amount of supplies that were all fit into the adorable storage tin.

Including simple patterns, needles, thread, pre-cut felt shapes, a variety of beads, and more, it wasn't hard to begin turning the individual pieces into adorable first sewing projects. Just match up the correct pieces of felt and carefully sew them together, adding stuffing or beads for embellishment!

Big Sister E and I ended up sharing the work, as she tried her best to handle a needle and thread for the first time...

...but was still extremely pleased and proud of two days' worth of work coming together in the form of one cute, soft puppy.

We're already making plans for when we can sew together butterflies, flowers, an owl and more! I appreciate the way that Manhattan Toy designed this kit with various levels, making it possible to increase or decrease the difficulty on each individual project.

By the time we had completed all three of these kits, we found ourselves big fans of Imagine I Can and the way that each of these innovative packages can provide fun, learning, development, creativity and more all in a compact, portable container. Heck, the Sew Sweet tin is so darn cute that it could be used as a lunchbox!

Appealing to boys and girls and easily labeled for ages 3+, 6+
and 8+ years old, the full collection of Imagine I Can Make It Myself Kits, Games and Role Play Kits will stay on our list of possible birthday gifts and items to reach for in the future that are guaranteed to provide family fun (or make amazing travel entertainment)!

Find out more about the Imagine I Can line as well as all of Manhattan Toy's unique and amazing products by visiting ManhattanToy.com and connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Plus, thanks to their generosity, one person will soon be able to provide some creativity and laughter for the child in their life, because...

One lucky person will win their choice of one of the 28 Imagine I Can kits from Manhattan Toy!

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A big thank you to Manhattan Toy for providing three Imagine I Can kits for me to review as well as the kit of choice for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.