Here are some of my thoughts on Color Blanks

Dyno Dog by Derek Wilmot

- The kit includes 3 markers, some white modeling clay and a set of stickers, so it’s great for birthday party entertainment or swag bag fun, for both boys and girls.  However, there are only 3 markers, so you may want to make sure that you have a larger set of markers available if you want more color choices

- Craft glue and other decorative items like sequins, buttons, popsicle sticks, felt, foam, etc. are NOT included and children might enjoy personalizing their Color Blank in this way, so you may need to purchase additional accessories

- I found it helpful to actually pull the head and arms off the body when coloring the figurine using the permanent markers, but it did release a lot of marker onto my fingers while trying to re-assembling it, so you may want to let it sit overnight.

- The clay stays on the Color Blank just by pressing it, but it would probably be helpful to attach it more permanently with craft glue.

- The permanent markers dry on the Color Blank dark and smooth, which is really nice. However, if you paint the clay, it does not color the same way as the marker on the Color Blank does, so there is some inconsistency with the marker coverage. The markers come off your fingers when washing them, but you may want to use a little scrub brush to remove the marker.

- Inside the package is a small outline of both the front and back of the Color Blank. You may want to photocopy the outlines and make them larger or print them from the internet. Then children can plan out the steps of what they would like their Color Blank to look like.

- Will your Color Blank become your family mascot? For some reason I feel like Color Blanks could be the item your family takes with you on family vacations, photographing he or she as part of your family all over the world! So make sure to have your children and family write the story of your family’s Color Blank!

Color Blanks were provided by Rose Art and Mega Brands free to facilitate a review. The opinions in this post are my own.

My little “Lego Lover” friend was very eager to help construct the pyramid.  With only a bit of cueing for placement of the pieces, after 20 minutes, we had maybe put together 1/4th of the game, so thinking we’d have time to play the game faster, I began assembling the pyramid in super-speed, giving him a few suggestions of bricks to find along the way. It took us a solid 45 minutes to get the pyramid together, with me hustling for about half of it.  Due to time constraints we had to postpone playing the game, but my friend was happy to play with the pyramid.

A week later we got together to play the game. I started to read the directions and initially got seriously confused. The goal of the game is to move your LEGO adventurer first around the base of the pyramid and then ultimately up and down the pyramid, trying to get to the top to defeat the mummy King Ramses. Along the way the adventurer collects colored crystals and looks under the secret temples to guess what color crystal is hiding underneath. Players will need to use their memory so that later on they can remember what colored crystals are hiding underneath each secret temple.  With each turn guessing the correct color of a crystal will allow them to move  move up, down and laterally to different levels on the pyramid.  Simultaneously, with a roll of the dice, mummy’s are released from the top of the pyramid, preventing your adventurer from accessing different levels on the pyramid, as well as allowing for rotation of the levels of the pyramid to change the path to the top. Once the first adventurer reaches the top of the pyramid and rolls the dice to a mummy, they defeat King Ramses and get access to the treasure room hidden in the base of the pyramid.

In the manual I found a link to games.LEGO.com, where there were animated tutorials providing the directions using a visual demonstration.  They made so much more sense, I would recommend this over trying to read the directions.  If your child has difficulty with multi-step directions they will most likely need some assistance in remembering the sequence.

So as is typical of LEGO’s in general, fine motor skills and hand strength are required in the process of building the pyramid. This particular game includes visual memory, as each person has to remember the color of the crystals located in the secret temple to gain as many crystals as possible to make moving up and down the pyramid easier. Visual spatial skills are involved to determine exactly how many spaces are between the edges and temples when building the pyramid. Though I was not successfuly in learning this game right out of the box, after 30 minutes of play, we became much more confident. I think this game would appeal very highly to the 8-12 year old boy. Not only does it include the ability to recreate a very detailed and cool Egyptian pyramid, but this game does promote customization with changing the rules and team building through cooperative group play.  At the very least, this makes a rather cool pyramid where children can create their own imaginative play.

Though LEGO provided a free copy of Ramses Pyramid for review, the opinions are purely the bloggers own.