Back in May of 2016, McKinley and I visited Kaleidoscope in Hallmark Crown Center for the first time. We had heard so much about it and couldn't wait to get creating. McKinley hopped around from station to station, painting, cutting, taping, and applying stickers to everything he could. Fast forward to later in that same year when McKinley went with his Kindergarten class for a field trip. He told me this wasn't really a field trip for him since we go all the time. Needless to say, he felt like a veteran when showing his friends around the space.
Kaleidoscope is located in Crown Center just outside the headquarters of Hallmark. Their mission is to provide a creative space for children to "make art with materials from Hallmark’s manufacturing processes. Some are cut into shapes, while others are left just as Hallmark sends them. And Hallmark provides different materials so the projects are ever-changing!" And it's FREE! Each session is 50 minutes in total, which is plenty of time to get your imagination flowing, and to take home a bag full of all the pieces your child, and you, have made.
Fast forward again to this year, three years later, when Hallmark reached out and asked if McKinley and I would be interested in helping them celebrate Kaleidoscope's 50th Anniversary by telling all of you all about it. I immediately said yes! This is such a special space that everyone should know about and I love that I am someone who gets to do just that!
This past weekend, we headed down to Crown Center for a fun filled family Saturday. We kicked it off with a trip to Kaleidoscope where McKinley jumped right in and started out at the puzzle station. He's really into giant squids and had to make his own "super hard to solve" red squid puzzle! Kids can design their own puzzle on a square piece of matte board and then cut it with the puzzle maker machine. If you were going to design a puzzle, what would you draw?
From there, McKinley headed to the paint station and created a piece using watercolors and marker. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but let's just call it abstract art! Graphic design, maybe? Geometric shapes? Whatever you call it, it's so him! From there, he took his masterpiece to the dryer where you simply send your designs through the industrial dryer so you can take it home without a drip or a smudge!
One of his favorite spaces is the floor area where you can typically find giant rolls of wrapping paper, ribbons, scissors, and add-ons galore. In the past, he has created a kite, a crown, a giant Christmas tree, and on this day, a silver monster and dual snakes!
One of my all time favorite spaces is the black light room! What fun spot. You can use fiber optic tubes and strands to write all over the large wall on the back part of the room. You can take a photo of yourself and watch it appear on the same wall. You can draw using special markers that appear neon against the black light. And my favorite area....the melted crayon station! It's so cool!!
I could keep going, but instead, I'm going to show you all of the amazing ways your child can create and imagine cool designs of their very own!
And he couldn't help but make one last thing before leaving!
Doesn't this look like the most fun place to spend time with your family!
Thank you so much, Kaleidoscope, for having us! We had a blast and will be back very soon!
XO,
Andrea
Kaleidoscope is located in Crown Center just outside the headquarters of Hallmark. Their mission is to provide a creative space for children to "make art with materials from Hallmark’s manufacturing processes. Some are cut into shapes, while others are left just as Hallmark sends them. And Hallmark provides different materials so the projects are ever-changing!" And it's FREE! Each session is 50 minutes in total, which is plenty of time to get your imagination flowing, and to take home a bag full of all the pieces your child, and you, have made.
Fast forward again to this year, three years later, when Hallmark reached out and asked if McKinley and I would be interested in helping them celebrate Kaleidoscope's 50th Anniversary by telling all of you all about it. I immediately said yes! This is such a special space that everyone should know about and I love that I am someone who gets to do just that!
This past weekend, we headed down to Crown Center for a fun filled family Saturday. We kicked it off with a trip to Kaleidoscope where McKinley jumped right in and started out at the puzzle station. He's really into giant squids and had to make his own "super hard to solve" red squid puzzle! Kids can design their own puzzle on a square piece of matte board and then cut it with the puzzle maker machine. If you were going to design a puzzle, what would you draw?
From there, McKinley headed to the paint station and created a piece using watercolors and marker. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but let's just call it abstract art! Graphic design, maybe? Geometric shapes? Whatever you call it, it's so him! From there, he took his masterpiece to the dryer where you simply send your designs through the industrial dryer so you can take it home without a drip or a smudge!
One of his favorite spaces is the floor area where you can typically find giant rolls of wrapping paper, ribbons, scissors, and add-ons galore. In the past, he has created a kite, a crown, a giant Christmas tree, and on this day, a silver monster and dual snakes!
I could keep going, but instead, I'm going to show you all of the amazing ways your child can create and imagine cool designs of their very own!
And he couldn't help but make one last thing before leaving!
Doesn't this look like the most fun place to spend time with your family!
Thank you so much, Kaleidoscope, for having us! We had a blast and will be back very soon!
XO,
Andrea
*This is a sponsored post, but all opinions expressed are my own.
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