Have you heard of the Canadian start-up toy company called BunkiMunki? It's a safe social networking website for tweens who may be too young for social sites like Facebook, but still want a place where it's safe to socialize and play online. The website includes games, chat, Bmail, a really cool music mixer and even a virtual avatar. Who doesn't love designing a likeness of themselves, albeit as a furry monkey? And while monkeys are cute in their natural state...


... they're just as cute when you get to dress them up.

A couple of days ago, I told you about Fan Expo Canada and how you can stop by the Hasbro booth to check out their new line of construction toys called KRE-O. Lucky for me, I got to test one out myself! Some of my friends on Twitter felt pity that I had the difficult task of putting together over 380 pieces but fear not. I came. I built. I conquered.
Now, it's true that where Transformers are concerned, there is more than meets the eye. It was slow, at first, but once I sorted the pieces by colour, then by size, and sent the kids to bed, I found it was much easier. The first page recommends that you do so. Sort by colour and size, that is. (It doesn't mention the kids.) This particular set is called Sentinel Prime, a 2 in 1 construction set that can be built in vehicle (firetruck) mode or robot mode. It's recommended for kids ages 8-14 but everyone knows I'm smarter than a fifth grader. I tackled it anyway. If you didn't catch some of the play-by-play on Twitter, I've put together a little collage of some of the steps along the way.

KRE-O Sentinel Prime Transformer - Vehicle Mode

From very early on, it felt like I was missing a piece. And, unless my son misplaced it, it looks like I may need to print out an order form to replace part number #00045. But it's located underneath the firetruck near the rear so it isn't crucial from a structural standpoint. The instruction manual is printed in colour and clearly shows how to build in each mode. The vehicle mode requires 87 steps whereas the robot mode requires a little over 100! Now you understand why I went with vehicle mode. Plus, my son is crazy about firetrucks. He doesn't need to know that it can be rebuilt into a robot for at least another couple of years, right?


The final result is really cool and took me about and hour and a half, give or take. I think my son will love playing with it. I do foresee issues with the side panels where the ladders are located since they come off easily. I'm thinking I could use the spare parts to better secure these panels. The four KREON figures (SENTINEL PRIME, SOUNDWAVE, THUNDERCRACKER and Fire Chief) are really cute, too. By the way, did you know that KRE-O works with other leading brands? Bonus!

Discovery Girls Magazine was first issued in the fall of 2000. It is a bi-monthly publication with an incredible readership of one million. For each issue, they travel to a different state and pick 12 girls to be their Discovery Girls. They are carefully selected based on answers to questionnaires and whether they will be good role models for their peers. They take great care to have a diverse group of girls who demonstrate enthusiasm, personality and a certain spark. And the fact that they choose real girls makes this a magazine that every girl can enjoy.

Our goal is to create a forum for girls to help each other and to show our readers that whatever they might be going through, they are not alone. We feel it is important to give girls a voice and the opportunity to express themselves.