Hallmark Recordable Artwork Review!

As anyone who reads my twinkl blog will know, I'm making it my task this summer to really get my boys doing lots of creative outdoorsy arty sort of things, especially as my oldest son is about to start school and he could do with strengthening his wrists and hands a little to improve his fine motor skills.

With this in mind, it was a happy coincidence that Hallmark sent me their Recordable Artwork kit to review at home, since it is very arty indeed!

Hallmark Recordable Artwork

The idea is that your child uses the paint to create a masterpiece on the canvas, then together you record a story describing the painting and their reasoning and thinking behind it. When son 2 went for a nap (otherwise we would have two children fighting over it!) today, we set to work, only it wasn't work, it was lovely.

First of all, we did a little practice on another piece of paper, as I explained to my son that once the painting was done, it couldn't be undone, as this was canvas and very special. After a few practices, we decided on a Goldilocks and The Three Bears picture as he liked the idea of telling a proper story into the microphone. I sketched out a bear and then my son did the rest. To be honest he was more keen on just covering the canvas in paint rather than creating anything recognisable, still I didn't like to stifle his creativity and instruct him too much, so I just let him get on with it.

First attempt by my own little Picasso!

After several spilled water pots and a few arguments about what colours should be in a rainbow, we were ready to record the story to go along with the picture. It's really easy to do, you just hold down the record button and talk away. The only slight difficulty is getting the back off the battery area to set the button to "unlock" so you can record. But I bet most people wouldn't actually have to spend over an hour finding the right size screwdriver, they would have a good idea where they are kept!

Here is a short video so you can get an idea of the sound quality when it's played back. I think it's pretty good actually. During the recording my son chose that exact moment to spill the pot of paint...

The Recordable Artwork now has pride of place on our wall, I really like the idea of it keeping a record of my son's painting, his voice and his thoughts, something we can keep forever.

Priced at £12.99 Recordable Artwork is available from June 2012 in Hallmark stores and at www.Hallmark.co.uk.