Mega Bloks First Builders Review & Giveaway

I reached out to Mega Bloks to be a part of the Babies First Birthday Blog Party, but didn't hear back from them in time. Luckily, they were still interested in working with Letters from Momma! I was recently sent a new Mega Bloks Big Building Bag {in pink} to review with G. She's had the classic colors bag since Christmas, and they are one of her favorite toys. Last month, Mega Bloks released a First Builders Let's Build! app for the iPhone. To go along with this great app release, they've revamped some of their products geared toward younger kids. They've grouped all of the preschool blocks, designed for ages 1+, under the First Builders brand name. Check out my review below, download the iPhone app for free, and be sure to enter the great giveaway at the end of the blog post!

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Mega Bloks First Builders Big Building Bag

The 80 piece bag has an MSRP of $19.99 and comes in pink or classic colors. There are also 3 different 60 piece bags that come in pink, classic, or trendy (a blend of the colors in a lime bag). Aside from the building bag sets, there are many other First Builder products to choose from--check out the Mega Bloks online shop.

I don't know if the old pink set had a car this big, it's twice
 as big as the car we have from the old classic set!

What's New?  The most noticeable change to the First Builders collection of Mega Bloks is the packaging. The previously clear plastic zippered container bags are now PVC free and eco-friendly! They feel like some styles of reusable grocery bags and seem more safe {toddler-friendly} to me. The graphics are changed a bit, too, and there are a few new characters. The Mega Bloks website was also recently redesigned to be a lot more user friendly. I like the shop, which let's you choose which items you already have, and which items you want--to create a virtual wish list. On our list? We want the construction site kit, the kitchenette, and the walker (for the new baby).
I like the zippered bag feature of Mega Bloks building bags, because they are lot easier to keep contained than a box with a lid. G loves pulling the bag over to my husband or me, for us to un-zip. She then dumps them out in delight. Either style of bag seems sturdy--like it will hold up for plenty of years to come--but I am glad they've made the new bags eco-friendly.

the old bag & new bag

Fun for Everyone. From the first day we brought the Mega Bloks home, they've been my husband's favorite toy. He couldn't wait until G was 'old enough' to play with building blocks. We both loved building all kinds of things when we were younger, and now it is nice to all play together with G's Mega Bloks. We have 2 80 piece bags now, so we can build even bigger creations! Recently, G and her daddy built a super tall tower that required G to sit on Daddy's shoulders to complete the project. Where was I? Taking pictures for posterity, of course! I love bonding time, and building things together is certainly a fun thing for us all to do. I also like watching G play with them alone, because she definitely needs that solo-play experience to discover things on her own. Check out the information below about the new iPhone app from Mega Bloks that can enhance your block play time even more.

Developmental. Mega Bloks are not only a great toy, they are a developmental tool. I've enjoyed watching G get better and better at playing with them. When she first got them, she really just tossed them around or watched us play with them (and knocked down our towers). As she grew, she started to put them together, but it took a little bit before she became successful. Now she can stack blocks as high as she can get us to lift her :-). Mega Bloks First Builders teach open-ended play and definitely help her solo-play develop too. While she still prefers to take the blocks apart, I'm not concerned with that at all. It takes really good fine motor skills to pull all the blocks apart.
G is also great at cleaning up and putting the blocks in their bag. I credit Mega Bloks and their awesome packaging for her being such a good helper. We started on day one having her help us put the blocks away. 

reading the instructions before beginning :-)

G also loves her Mega Blok bus + girl (you might remember this video) and it was a nice developmental tool too. She had to learn to open the top and find the girl. She learned to roll it around and gained valuable fine motor skills from putting the girl in and pulling her out.
So, Mega Bloks are great for developing motor skills, play skills, and organization/clean-up skills---what more could a parent want in a toy?! :-)

First Builders App. The Mega Bloks First Builders Let's Build! app is a blend of traditional & technological Mega Bloks play. We all know how attracted to our iPhones kids are, no matter how hard we might try to keep them apart! There are a lot of game apps geared towards kids now, and Mega Bloks was certainly smart to get in on the action. With the First Builders app, care takers and kids can play together--building animals, boats, vehicles, and more with the easy-to-follow instructions. It's a great way to enhance your Big Building Bag play time, while finding new things to make out of your Mega Bloks.. It's compatible with the 80 or 60 piece bags and has a selection of over 20 models. There are animated instructions with fun sound effects that most young kids will find entertaining. You can even share your creation pictures through the app with email, Facebook, and Twitter options.

screen shot from the app on my phone

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You can purchase Mega Bloks from places like Target, Amazon, Wal-Mart & Toys R Us. Head over to their website to sign up for the Family Club. Like them on Facebook and follow @MegaBloks to stay up to date with the latest Mega Blok info {+ to get extra entries into the giveaway}!

Mega Bloks sent me an additional bag of Mega Bloks {pink colors} to give away to one Letters from Momma reader. Open to US only. Enter to win using the Rafflecopter form below. If you need help with Rafflecopter please contact me or see this video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received two 80 piece bags of Mega Bloks  to facilitate this review and giveaway. Prize will be sent from me. All opinions are my own, yours may differ. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Facebook. Entries involving Facebook are not mandatory, and Facebook has no liability for this giveaway. Ends 7/31/12 at 12:01 AM Eastern. Open to US only.