I know what you’re thinking: “Why is there no glorious recipe for something awesome and delicious right now?!” I totally get that, but I also want you to remember a couple of things. First, that I am a mom of two small humans and second, that I spend the majority of my free time with them. If you are reading this post, just know that I wrote it when the kids were either in school (in which case, hallelujah!) or while they were in the house with me but completely involved in something super interesting, giving me ample time to write without constant requests for food or butt wipes (parenthood is ah-may-zing!).

So let’s talk a little bit about what entertains a 6 year old boy and his four year old sister. Let’s see…there’s biking in the driveway and in our quiet street with some sweet jumps and ladders we made for them. That usually ends in scraped knees, heavy breathing and way too much fun with all the neighbour kids. Then there’s dress up, that usually ends with feather boa bits all over the living room carpet. There’s playing baby…but that doesn’t work for the boy. Colouring is always fun, but usually ends in pen being put in places that doesn’t come off so easily, which can also be said for any kind of craft, playdough or Rainbow Loom. There’s Pokémon cards, but the attention pan of a four year old for that is pretty limited.

The one thing that has always entertained the boy of them for hours versus the usual minutes, is building toys. Lego started it all and last Christmas, Cohen spent eight hours building a firehouse out of the stuff. Seriously. You give that kid a kit and he will sit there until it is done. He will forego food (unless there’s doughnuts), bathroom breaks and fun outside with his friends until the whole thing is put together.

So when Parent Tested Parent Approved contacted me about doing a campaign with KRE-O, I figured it was the best way to get my kid involved with my website (finally) and also to give him an interesting and somewhat educational toy to play with. Besides, when boxes or packages come and I tell them it’s for them and not me, they freak out. We were sent three boxes of KRE-O Transformers kits. The Galvatron Factory Battle, Grimlock Street Attack and the Optimus Prime Dino Hauler. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen Transformers: Age of Extinction, but that doesn’t really matter to this kid. He just likes building toys and dinosaurs…and things that are cool. These sets are pretty cool, mostly because he loves them like nothing else, but also because it keeps him from asking to watch TV or play on my iPhone. We are pretty strict with after school TV (ie: none) so offering activities during the went and windy months is crucial for my sanity.

Let’s all take a few seconds out of our busy day to say “awwwwwwww….” because of this awesome shot:

The kid has been getting super into taking pictures of his food at dinner and has recently told me he wants to write a movie and be a director. Be still my heart…

So we got the boxes of KRE-O Transformers, and Cohen set to work right away. He picked the smallest box first and built that while Adrian and I worked out in the garage. He finished it before dinner and the next day after school, the second box was opened. Piles were made on the carpet in the living room to sort everything out and work began again. This one took a little while, but was finished before breakfast the next day. Honestly, though…he spent a good deal of time putting them all together and then another good amount of time playing “Transformers’ with his sister.

Poor little Isla couldn’t really get the hang of following the directions though and was soon ousted by Cohen as his building assistant but she did get to play with the finished product, as stated previously. There were then the neighbour kids who came to check it all out and marvel over the cool magnets that were inside the dinosaurs heads which made it look like they were eating the little Kre-O people…awesome (this is called Dino Force Technology!). There was grumbling about wishing the Optimus Prime truck actually turned into Optimus Prime the Transformer though. Other downsides included the lack of organization that comes with KRE-Os vs how their main competitor does things. LEGO, as anyone who has had a child in the last three decades will know, comes partitioned in numbered bags that correspond to the instruction pamphlets. You open one packet at a time to avoid losing pieces. LEGO also comes with extra pieces of smaller components. Neither of these characteristics is part of the KRE-O line. All the packets of pieces have to be opened at once, because all the pieces are mixed together. There are no extra pieces in any of the packaging which led to many outbursts of “I can’t find x, y, z! I can’t finish it!” Ultimately though, he loved it.

In conclusion, do I recommend KRE-O over LEGO? I recommend both because they both offer different packages, which may appeal to your kid in different ways. Both are fun, educational toys for both boys and girls. Both take time and dedication and in the end, can be played with or deconstructed and added to ever-growing piles of LEGO/KRE-O because they are compatible with each other! So you don’t have to decide. They are both quality toys with quality designs that are fun and easy for kids to put together….yay!

But the best part of this whole thing? You have a chance to win one of these kits for you little one too! See below for ways to enter!

KREO Transformers

“Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Hasbro and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”