30, Flirty, and Thriving: December 2012

Lazoo is a quality-conscious lifestyle children’s brand and media property emphasizing award-winning design, creativity, and play. Inspired by an internationally best-selling series of Japanese children’s books, Lazoo products all embody the same core mission: to foster a child’s creative process, encourage self-expression and empower the imagination.

When we enter the world of Lazoo, we enter the realm of a child's imagination, a place of endless possibility where cars race across tree branches, mermaids teach dinosaurs to sing, and ghosts host fashion shows. In this world, kids are encouraged to think independently; "coloring outside the lines" is celebrated and all types of creative self–expression are honoured.

As mentioned priorely, Lazoo is not only about clothes and toys, but extremely interactive and colourful apps as well. Squiggles and Let's Color are two apps where the little ones are invited to draw with the use of their finger on very magical and fun drawing pages. With the hit of the go! button, they can then watch their masterpiece come to life on the screen! "Squiggles!" is based on Lazoo’s “Hands On! Mind On!” curriculum, developed in conjunction with top educational experts. Lazoo apps are designed to:

Build divergent thinking skills.

Foster problem solving skills including implementing, evaluating, communicating, and revising creative ideas.

Assist a child in becoming comfortable with uncertainty.

Encourage a resilient approach to play and creative problem solving so that a child learns persistence.

Support the kind of appropriate risk-taking in play and thinking that inspires creativity.

Encourage an interest in, and openness to, emotion in both play and thinking.

Besides the fact that they are entertaining, they are also very educative. Briefly, the apps offer the child 14 unique "living" drawing pages where the drawing palette includes stickering, chalk, mystery tool, ketchup tool and more! The apps include a gallery where the masterpieces can be saved preciously, or the option of sharing to friends and family by email, Facebook, Twitter, Lazoo community, or simply printing. Squiggles includes an amazing interactive storybook and animated short featuring Lazoo's adorable characters, Bobu and Miku, who model creative thinking and encourage children to use their imaginations and color outside the lines.

The Lazoo apps review by S.O.S. Mom: "Squiggles and Let's Color must be two of the coolest apps I have come across since I have been a connected mom. As a mother who knows her son, I can tell when he is really passionate about something. The Lazoo apps are definitely on that list! The apps' interactiveness is incredible and the colours highly inviting. The apps are built and designed with a high level of ingenuity and thoughtfulness and are an amazing tool to build and explore the true potential of a child's confidence and creativeness. Allowing children to use their finger as a tool to create whatever their imagination throws their way is fabulous. My son loves to switch between the different colouring pages and doodle away and then see it come to life as he presses the go! button. As he chooses a drawing page, the app invites him to a specific task, for example to draw some spaghetti on a plate or smoke coming out of rockets. Okay so, my son doesn't really draw spaghetti on a plate or smoke coming out of rockets... he's only 21 months-old! But he has all the fun in the world seeing colours appear as his finger runs across the screen. He has a real blast seeing little images appear as he taps the screen using the stickering tool! This app really captivates him and helps him to practice and develop his dexterity, creativeness and imagination. But I think that is really, what is the most important, that he gets to grow those skills and learn while having fun. As a parent, I just want to ensure that my son grows from interacting with an app. Lazoo Squiggles and Let's Color gets my two thumbs up and a well deserved 10/10."

You can connect with Lazoo via their website, Facebook page, Twitter profile or Pinterest profile.

And of course, there is a giveaway involved! Thanks to Lazoo, S.O.S. Mom and Real Momma, two winners will each win their choice of Lazoo clothing between the following. The event will take place until December 31st and is open to all US residents. Each item retails for $25. To enter for your chance to win, simply fill out the form below.