Monday, May 18, 2015

Have Your Kids Unleash Their Inner Super Hero

It was nice weather outside the other day and my kids were being rambunctious inside the house.  When I urged them to go out and play they whined back at me "there's nothing to do in the backyard."  I urged them to use their imagination as they were ushered outside.  It didn't take long for me to hear them having fun as they started to pretend they were the Avengers and imagining they were on an adventure to save the planet.

My son threw on his Iron Man Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron Hero Mask and Iron Man Arc FX Armor and was racing around the backyard pretending to blast apart the robotic hoards of the villainous Ultron's cybernetic army.  Hasbro's Arc FX armor provides kids with a pair of articulated gloves that assists them in role playing by featuring a light-up repulsor with sound effects so they can blast into their imaginary battles like Iron Man.  Raising your hand activates lights and blasting sound effects.  Meanwhile my daughter was pretending to be the Fantastic Four's invisible woman so she could ignore my son and stay out of the fray.


Iron Man next stumbled upon Thor's mighty battle hammer Mjolnir and tested himself to see if he was worthy to hold the famed weapon.  He used all the power of Iron Man's armor but was unable to budge the hammer from where it rested.  This peaked my little girl's interest who wandered over and without a bit of hesitation hoisted Mjolnir into the air.  That action transformed a six year old kindergartener into the mighty Thor!


Thor and Iron Man then teamed up to tackle a variety of challenges as they leaped, rolled, and wrestled their way through an imaginary adventure.  They spent about 2 hours outside on a nice spring day playing Avengers.  These role playing Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron toys from Hasbro were really a nice enticement to encourage my kids to get outside and play in a fun way that also got them some exercise and spurred their imaginations.


According to a post in Scholastic's parenting blog, pretend play, like my kids Avenger's adventure in our backyard, has important learning benefits that assist children with problem solving, critical thinking, self expression and imagination. The children's publisher Scholastic notes that when kids pretend to be different characters they have the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes" which helps teach the moral development skill of empathy.  The article also mentions that pretend play can assist children with language skills as they use words to reenact a story or act out their own adventures.  CLICK HERE to read the full blog post by Scholastic on the many benefits of children engaging in pretend play.

There are also a bunch of benefits in regard to getting kids outside to play. One of the most important is that the American Heart Association recommends that children 2 and older should be involved in at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activities each day to stay in good health.  Getting your kids to pretend they are super heroes is a great way to get your kids outside playing and being active!  These Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron role-playing toys really can spark a child's interest in pretending to be a super hero and spur them to run, leap, and wrestle in imaginative play.


In addition to the Iron Man and Thor gear I've show above, here are a few other Hasbro role play items in their Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron collection that can be used to #AssembleYourTeam and help your child unleash his or her imagination to join the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Super Heroes.


 AVENGERS HERO MASKS
Wear the Hulk's scowl, Captain America's iconic 'A', Iron Man's flip up visor, or Thor's helmet to suit up as your favorite Avenger.  Recommended for children ages 5 & up.


HULK GAMMA GRIP FISTS
These foam hands let kids imagine battling evil like the most powerful member of the Avengers: the Hulk!  Recommended for children ages 4 & up.



CAPTAIN AMERICA STAR LAUNCH SHIELD
Pull the rip cord to deploy the shield's center disc and send it flying for a surprise attack.   Recommended for children ages 6 & up.

These toys are available at most major retailers and on HasbroToyShop.com 

Avengers Assemble! Get out there and have some fun adventures of your own!

DISCLAIMER I was not provided any financial compensation for publishing this post and there was no promise made to Hasbro that if they provided complimentary products that they would receive a positive review or in fact any post on this blog at all.  Opinions and views expressed in this post are my own.  Some of the product information and photographs used in this post were provided to A Geek Daddy blog by Hasbro.  A Geek Daddy blog was provided some complimentary products that were utilized in this post.

6 comments:

  1. Pretend play is everything---I'm so glad you mentioned it's importance. The older my kids get, the more I am glad for the time they spent "pretending". I bet your kids had an awesome time with these toys!

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  2. I've always been a fan of super heroes. For as long as I remember. Now, it's even more fun to share with our girls.

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  3. Sounds like fun. That part in the new Avengers movie with Thor's hammer was funny ... no one could lift it except the computer guy.

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  4. Very fun! You guys always look like you have a good time!

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  5. There was five of us growing up so we didn't have a lot of stuff! Our imagination was our toy box. These are the memories that stick with you. What a great post!

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  6. I have fond memories of pretend play as a child. We had quite the elaborate story lines for our Barbie village. Those were the days!

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