On the Move Approved: Short Stuffs by Klutz

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My kids and I love Klutz products. The irreverent activity books, nifty crafts and entertaining games come in compact kits or books that are ideal for travel.

Many Klutz items have accompanied us on road trips and plane rides. In particular, Kids Travel: A Backseat Survival Kit is chock full of games, puzzles, mysteries, quizzes, trivia and art projects for ages 6 and up. My daughter has mastered all of the moves illustrated in Cat’s Cradle, a board book that comes with a colorful string for making the figures. Both kids have made pictures with the portable book Hand Art, from Klutz’s Chicken Socks imprint for ages 4 and up. And the Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes makes an awesome birthday gift.

I always look forward to spring when Klutz releases its new products. Even though Short Stuffs: Create Your Own No-Sew Stuffed Animals is designed for kids as young as 4, my 8-year-old daughter got such a kick out of it. She spent at least a half hour stuffing little tiny pillows into the two “animal bodies” and attaching different felt arms, legs, ears and tails with Velcro to create colorful animals, like “Munchie Mouse,” “Chirpy Birdie” and “Playful Pup.” She enjoyed the activity so much, she brought the Short Stuffs kit to school for show and tell!

The instructions are all pictorials, no reading required. I can see how preschoolers would enjoy making animals for pretend play on an airplane or while strapped in the car.

My only caveat is that the pieces are small, and could easily get lost in the seat of an airplane or car backseat. You’ll just need to do a reconnaissance of all the parts and pieces after when it’s time to pack them away in the handy packaging. But there’s a lesson in responsibility and counting — 2 animal bodies, 13 felt pieces and 7 stuffing pillows in all!

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May 16, 2008 | Filed Under Family Travel, The Cookie Jar, Travel Gear 

Comments

One Response to “On the Move Approved: Short Stuffs by Klutz”

  1. Guam-Hotel.Net » Blog Archive » New Book: Traveling with Kids says:
    May 6, 2009 at

    [...] I like the book’s master packing list, which reminded me I need to update the list I keep on my hard drive. I think it dates back a few years, when I was still packing water-wings and sippy cups for my preschoolers! (The kids are now 7 and 9.) And because I am a list fanatic, I also appreciate the 200 “essential websites” for travel planning and buying gear that makes travel easier (like my beloved Klutz activity books). [...]

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