With the first month of school nearing an end, our family is finally back in the swing of things. Lunches, uniforms, new bus schedules... it's all a part of the back-to-school season, right? This year, we decided to take on the HP Brain Training Challenge in addition to the typical school preparations that we may (or may not) look forward to each year. For our first Creative IQ-inspired challenge, my daughter and I chose to re-design her bedroom and had a lot of fun doing so. For our second challenge, we worked on improving our science knowledge, teamwork and artistic skills by playing educational games using the Rove20’s 10-point multi-touch 20-inch screen. We explored the solar system and living cells, solved puzzles and much more. Finally, we completed a third challenge that was designed by the writers of Creative IQ to develop improvisation, planning and implementation skills. This activity included designing and printing our own restaurant menu with the ENVY 5530 e-All-in-One, including menu items with prices, setting a table, waiting on customers and then adding up the bill to figure out the total amount owed.


Using the Rove20, my daughter and I created a simple menu using Microsoft Word via SkyDrive. We were able to use the limited functions to create a table, edit the font and insert a clipart image.


In addition to the menu, we used the printables function on the HP Envy to print out some Disney colouring pages. There were many to choose from, including Disney Planes, Sofia the First and Phineas and Ferb.


After previewing the colouring page, you will have the option to print. Your printer needs to be connected to your Wi-Fi since it will need a couple of seconds to download the page. They were perfect for keeping the young kids busy while waiting for their 'meal' to arrive.


This is a great activity as it aims to develop writing, spelling and math skills. It is only one of several activity suggestions in Creative IQ, a truly handy resource that will be making its way into the Teacher Resource section of our school library.

With September right around the corner, many of us are scrambling to squeeze in just a bit more summer fun before heading back to school. In our home, we are also trying to get the kids back on schedule and help prepare them for a successful academic year. This is why we agreed to take part in the HP Canada Brain Training Challenge by completing a series of Creative IQ™ activities that are fun and engaging. To help us complete these tasks, our family was provided with a brand-new ENVY Rove20 Mobile All-in-One desktop, an ENVY 5530 e-All-in-One printer, an HP Printing Supplies Kit and a copy of Creative IQ™ full of a variety of educational challenges.

For our first challenge, my daughter and I opted to hone in on our drawing and designing skills to give my daughter's bedroom a makeover. We began by drawing her bedroom with a pencil and tracing it in black marker, customizing the layout, wall art, bedding, etc.

Then we photocopied the bedroom design a couple of times with the HP ENVY 5530 e-All-in-One so that my daughter could experiment with different colours to see which combination looks best.

While she busily coloured to her heart's content, I used the HP ENVY yet again to scan a copy of the drawing using the photo option so I could email a copy to myself in jpeg format directly from the printer. Then I logged onto the HP Rove20, downloaded the email attachment and opened the Fresh Paint app.