Katelyn and Those Infomercials

Katelyn LOVES infomercials. Several times a week she will come running up to us to tell us about the newest, must have product. She recites the commercial back to us almost verbatim. Some of her favorites recently have been Bendaroos, the Snuggie blanket, and Blendy Pens. We have tried to explain to her that these items are rarely as great and exciting as they appear...oh the power of advertising.

Katelyn is very creative and was begging for Bendaroos. This was the number 1 item on her Christmas list. Bendaroos are wax-like sticks that can be shaped and molded into just about any creation. I kept saying that I just couldn't bring myself to order them. But, then Kevin and I thought about how disappointed she would feel if she didn't get them because it was really the only consistent item on her list. She would usually tell Santa that she wanted Bendaroos, surprises, and something for Kennedy. We decided to bite the bullet and order the $19.99 Bendaroos.

As we imagined, Katelyn was ecstatic on Christmas morning. I must admit that she has played with them often. Well, just today she had them out again. I was pretty impressed with what this kid of mine had done. She had used the Bendaroos to spell out words, including her name and Kennedy's name.

I never would have thought about using them to make words, but I sure am glad that Katelyn thought of this wonderful idea. The brochure that came in the box has lots of ideas and suggestions for how to use the Bendaroos, but they never mention making letters or words either. These could easily be marketed in an educational catalogue and probably do pretty well. I would love to have them for my classroom. The kids could form letters, spell word wall words, model geometric shapes, etc. I am not planning on ordering them for my classroom, but I am going to keep them in mind and maybe try to hit up the PTO in the future.

The funny thing is that a couple of my friends on facebook were recently talking about how much their kids enjoy Bendaroos. So, if you don't have any for your kids,
you might want to try them out.