Smooshie Review and Giveaway

There have been some pretty crazy creatures hanging around my house lately!

I'm not alarmed though, my kids just have been playing with the Smooshie that I received to review through One 2 One Network.


If you are anything like I was when they first contacted me about reviewing a Smooshie, you are probably thinking - What exactly is a Smooshie? "Smooshies are a fun and easy way to release kids' creativity! Kids can create anything they can imagine - a friend, a monster, a dog, a robot or an alien from another planet." The bodies are soft and smooshy, really huggable. The center of the body and some well placed tabs, 6 in total, around the outside of the body can be used for attaching an assortment of parts. The parts attach with Velcro strips and include legs, arms, wings, antennae, eyes, hair, and mouths.

"Smooshie are the proud recipient of multiple toy awards and have been praised by parents for being a fun and educational toy for children". Over at the Westrim Crafts official Smooshie web page, you can submit your Smooshie picture and story at My Smooshie, you can download games and activities at Playtime and you can read the story of Smooshies, who once were known as Rockies. You can also find a complete collection of kits, bodies and parts.

For the most part, I am pretty satisfied with the toy. I like that the toy provides a creative outlet for the kids. My son has always been one to ask lots of what-if questions out of left field - to which, many of my answers are, that would be crazy. The Smooshie allows him to build the creature that has eyes for arms or whatever zany idea he has that day. The only issue that we had was that the one eye had the Velcro pull off of the back - this was easily corrected with a little bit of glue and has been intact since.

My kids have had a good time switching the parts around, as evidenced by the assortment of creatures we have seen lately. The Smooshie is cuddly and my daughter likes to carry the Smooshie around like a dolly. Overall, I would say my son, almost 6 years old, does more with creating new creatures and my daughter, 2 1/2 years old, does more playing with the built creature.

The Smooshie definitely allows the kids to be creative and build unique creatures, but it doesn't seem to be a toy that they gravitate to consistently. When we first received it, as with any new toy, the kids played with it a lot. Now, they will play with it for a while, creating and recreating different monsters or other creatures, but then will set him aside for a day or two. The most sure fire way to get them interested is to take him apart and leave the parts in a pile. Then, they notice and begin to build and rebuild new creatures again. I definitely think that the more body parts available, the more creative the kids can be with the creature and the more fun I think that they have.

Smooshies are currently available to purchase online at Joann.com. At Joann.com there are 5 body shapes to choose from and an assortment of parts. In addition you can purchase kits and parts at these Jo-ann and Michaels stores. Smooshies kits are only $9.99 at retail and a set of additional parts is just $1.99.

As part of my product review, I was also given the opportunity to give one of my readers the chance to win their own Smooshie kit.

How can you enter? For the first entry, leave me a comment about who in your life would enjoy playing with a Smooshie.

For additional entries:
Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your post.
Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS and leave me a comment letting me know you subscribe.
Grab my button (on right sidebar) for your blog and leave me a comment with a link to your blog.
Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway using @ABusyMomofTwo. Leave a comment with a link to the Tweet. You can get one entry per day for tweeting.

This contest will remain open until July 29th at 7 pm. I will use a random number generator to select the winner. I will contact the winner by e-mail and they will have 36 hours to respond with their contact information or a new winner will be drawn.