LEARN TO DRAW MARVEL SUPERHEROES

My son and daughter love to doodle and sketch, so they've really appreciated these books that Quarto Publishing sent our way to try out which teach kids how to draw their favorite Marvel superheroes. Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk … who is your favorite hero from Marvel's comic books and movies? These Learn to Draw Marvel books range from teaching early readers about colors to showing beginning drawers how to do super sketches to tutoring advanced artists on illustrating characters worthy of being on a comic book page.

LEARN TO DRAW MARVEL: THE AVENGERS

Assemble your favorite Avengers by drawing them together. Create your own artwork featuring Earth's Mightiest Heroes with the help of this 128-page guide that will help anyone, no matter what their skill level, learn to draw Marvel's The Avengers. Inside you will find step-by-step instructions for drawing both Avengers superheroes including Ant-Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk Thor, and Iron Man as well as some of their adversaries such as Loki and Hela.

Learn to Draw Marvel: The Avengers provides instruction on drawing fundamentals, basic human anatomy, along with inking and coloring techniques used by professional comic book artists. The book is full of  helpful artist tips and filled with interesting character biographies and fun facts. It teaches professional technique while also sharing some of the rich backstory behind every character. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced artist, there is something for every skill level to appreciate and learn from in Learn to Draw Marvel: The Avengers.

LEARN TO DRAW MARVEL: SPIDER-MAN

This book is for amateur artists who dream of being professional comic book illustrators someday. Wouldn't it be cool to draw one of America's most popular superheroes like a pro?! Learn to Draw Marvel: Spider-Man shows readers how to do amazing illustrations of the wall-crawling web-slinger no matter what your talent level may be by teaching spectacular sketching skills. Diehard Spidey fans will also appreciate that this 64-page manual also shows how to draw the Sinister Six.

Learn to Draw Marvel: Spider-Man demonstrates three different drawing methods: tracing, grid-drawing and the basic shape methodology. Making your way through the different methods step-by-step and you will evolve from notching down simple shapes to actually being able to draw the Amazing Spider-Man free hand. The book includes tracing paper, drawing grid sheets and practice pages to use while going through the lessons inside it. Just grab a pencil and you will be ready to get started learning to draw Marvel's Spider-Man.

MARVEL'S AVENGERS CHALK BOARD COLORS

Preschoolers can even get in on the action with Marvel's Avengers Chalk Board Colors. Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, and Hawkeye help children learn the colors red, yellow, blue, white, green, purple, orange, black, brown, and gray in this book. Children can draw right on the pages of the book as they practice writing skills, and the write-and-wipe blackboard style pages make clean-up easy. The book even comes with chalk specially sized for small hands.

My kids are a bit old for the chalk board book but we wanted to share it with you because it looks like a fun, useful guide for those of you who have toddlers at home. My son and daughter though have been spending a lot of time learning to draw their favorite characters by flipping through the pages of these Avengers and Spider-Man illustration guides. I highly recommend them for anyone who loves comic books and has an interest in drawing superheroes for themselves.  Because these books demonstrate how to do this in a manner that most anyone can follow, the LEARN TO DRAW MARVEL lineup of books from Quarto Publishing earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval.

MARVEL AVENGERS INFLATABLE PLUSH CHARACTERS

Fans of Marvel comic books and movies won't want to miss out on a GROUPON deal that is launching off the release of some great new Avengers: Infinity War super sized plush characters from DGL Toys.  These toys can be easily blown up to 30" tall with an included pump yet have a nice plush feel to them making them comfy to hold.  Plus flat weighted feet make them able to stand if you don't want to hold onto them.

DGL Toys' 30" Marvel Avengers Inflatable Plush Characters are available for Black Panther, Groot, Hulk, Iron Man, and Spider-Man.  Get 20% off by purchasing them from GROUPON for a limited time!

Suitable for ages 3+ these unique plush toys are sure to delight kids as well as adults who adore Marvel superheroes.  True believers are sure to exclaim "Excelsior!" when they get their hands on one of these giant Marvel Avengers plush characters.  Looking over the GROUPON deal my son proclaimed Spider-Man was his favorite and my daughter let out an excited squeal over the Groot plush.  Which one is your favorite?  I have to say mine is Iron Man!

Just pull the toy out of its box and spend a few minutes watching it grow as you enlarge the inflatable bladder within it using the included hand pump.  Then have a blast reenacting some of your favorite Marvel Avengers adventures.  When playtime is over deflate the toy for easy storage until it is ready to be played with again.

Don't miss out on this GROUPON deal for 30" Marvel Avengers Inflatable Plush Characters from DGL Toys.  These are brand new toys coming out just in time for the release of Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War movie.  Be one of the first people to get your hands on these super toys!

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.

AVENGERS SAVING THE DAY - FREE DIGITAL COMIC BOOK TEACHES KIDS TO SAVE FOR THEIR FUTURE

While your kids may be anxiously awaiting the arrival of MARVEL's Avengers: Age of Ultron at movie theaters on May 1, 2015 now may be a good time to wrap up April which is Financial Literacy Month with the team of super heroes providing some help on assisting them in being money smart.  VISA's financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life, has a FREE digital comic book featuring some of MARVEL's most popular characters that can be downloaded to help parents and teachers begin a conversation with children about being money smart and financially literate.  AVENGERS: SAVING THE DAY features Ant Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Iron Man and Thor teaming up with Spider-Man to save a bank from being robbed by The Mole Man and his evil army while also providing tips to help Spidey from overdrafting his bank account as he considers what to buy his Aunt May for her birthday.  This comic book features some nice artwork and action scenes that intertwine an entertaining super hero story with educational tips and information.

AVENGERS: SAVING THE DAY is a 16 page comic book that introduces children to concepts of budgeting, savings, and banking terms.  Spider-Man's youthfulness (remember he is only a teen / young adult in most of his portrayals) and wise cracking personality create the transitions for the comic book's author, James Asmus, to provide educational insights while keeping the publication fun and interesting for its readers.  Andrea Di Vito also contributes with providing a decent job on the artwork for AVENGERS: SAVING THE DAY that I am sure most kids will appreciate and enjoy.
This comic book was originally published in 2012 to coincide with the movie release of THE AVENGERS, but is just as fitting and relevant of a tie-in now with its sequel.

The comic book is available in eight languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, French, Russian, and Bahasa Indonesian) and includes a budget worksheet and financial literacy terms checklist.  CLICK HERE to download AVENGERS: SAVING THE DAY.

"A wise man once said that with great power there must come great responsibility and that certainly applies to managing your finances.

In an uncertain world, understanding how to save

and properly budget your hard-earned money is one of the keys to personal success.

The Avengers are not only the world's greatest heroes, but they also know a thing or three about financial health. After all, Iron Man hasn't managed his vast wealth of Stark Enterprises by accident, and as Spider-Man learns, you don't have to be a millionaire to be a saving hero." 

-Marvel Editor Bill Rosemann

There is also an alternate version of the comic book available on the Practical Money Skills For Life website printed in Spanish and English that is essentially the same story but replaces Spider-Man with a super hero named Nova.  A teachers guide with a lesson plan can be downloaded from the website too.

Super Heroes Assemble App Lets You Turn Your Next Visit to Walmart into a MARVEL-ous Adventure

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

Unleash the power of MARVEL's The Avengers through your smart phone with Walmart's Super Heroes Assemble app available on Google Play and through the App Store.  This augmented reality app lets you engage in photo ops with characters from MARVEL's The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, explore their world from a 360 degree perspective, and even suit up to transform yourself into one of your favorite heroes like Hulk, Iron Man or Thor.  The powers of the Super Heroes Assemble app are unlocked when you use it to scan special images located on posters and products at your local Walmart store.   After downloading the app for my iPhone, my daughter and I headed to Walmart for a scavenger hunt to test out the augmented reality capabilities of Super Heroes Assemble.

Our first find was a poster in the toy department. Each of the locked powers for the app has an Avengers character associated with it that when you click on their face it shows you an image of the poster or product that needs to be scanned to make the feature accessible.  The app automatically opens your smart phone's camera so all you have to do is point your device so that the virtual image displayed on its screen overlaps with the real world one.  When we scanned this poster a giant Hulk Buster Iron Man appeared to take a photo with my lil Thor.

Searching through the aisles at Walmart we found specially marked Doritos, Dr. Pepper, Kellog's Fruit Snacks, and Cheez-It baked snack crackers products and displays with special images for us to scan.  Scanning these images as we found them around the store unlocked access to 360 degree interactive experiences, for example you can run the Mark 44 Iron Man armor through its paces and see what it is capable of through the Hulk Buster Testing Facility,  opened access to various character abilities that let you suit up as a favorite Avenger in photographs you take, and others created in-store Avengers photo ops like our picture with Hulk Buster Iron Man.

While the Photo Op feature only works specifically when you are scanning the special images, the Suit Up functions will work anytime after you have scanned the images that unlocks one of the eight featured characters which are Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Hulk Buster Iron Man, and Ultron.  We had a lot of fun playing around with the Suit Up features around the house and at the playground after we had unlocked all the characters during our Walmart scavenger hunt.

Here's a HINT, if you can't find all the special images while at Walmart they also have them displayed online and you can scan them off the screen from the store's special MARVEL's The Avengers: Age of Ultron web site section by looking for the "unlock more epic content" banner. 

 The Walmart website also features some coloring pages you can print out for the kids to have some fun with in the MARVEL's The Avengers: Age of Ultron section including the one below.

Make your next visit to Walmart a MARVEL-ous adventure with the Super Heroes Assemble App.  Have some fun with your own scavenger hunt while you pick up all the fan essential toys, clothes and food items to get yourself ready to see MARVEL's The Avengers: Age of Ulton which arrives at movie theaters on May 1, 2015. We had some smashing good daddy-daughter time playing with this app (hey remember Avengers isn't just popular with the guys, girls are big fans too!) and I'd encourage you to check it out to avoid becoming green with envy that you missed out on the chance to suit up as one of your favorite Avengers.

So which member of the Avengers is your favorite?  Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Quick Silver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, or Vision?  Iron Man has my vote while my daughter loves to role play as Thor while her twin brother pretends to be Captain America in their adventures at the park and in the backyard.

MARVEL SUPERHEROES LOOK TO STOMP OUT BULLYING

The INCREDIBLE HULK will be stomping out bullying in a special comic book cover of HULK #7 meant to promote the topic of addressing bullying prevention in our schools and highlighting that October is National Bullying Prevention Month.  Marvel Entertainment at the urging of STOMP Out Bullying, a bullying and cyberbullying prevention organization for kids and teens in the U.S., is publishing several special comic book variant edition covers on some of its most popular selling youth titles to bring added awareness of the problems of bullying during the month of October. 

 "The center of Marvel's storytelling history is the eternal struggle between good and evil, with many of its greatest super heroes having to contend with – and rise above – bullying, in all its forms," said Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. "We are proud to join forces with STOMP Out Bullying on its important bullying prevention awareness mission. We hope that all our fans take a moment this month to educate themselves on the need to stop bullying among our youth by checking out the free resources STOMP Out Bullying has to offer."

The following comic books will feature special STOMP Out Bullying variant covers:

• ROCKET RACCOON #4
• GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #20
• AVENGERS#36
• INHUMAN#7
• HULK #7
• CAPTAIN AMERICA #25
• LEGENDARY STAR-LORD #4

These anti-bullying covers will  be exclusive to print editions that will only be available through comic book stores. Here are a few of the other covers that will be included in this awareness campaign:

CLICK HERE for more information about STOMP Out Bullying.

Avengers Assemble for Times Square Exhibit

If you are going to be in the vicinity of New York City this summer you should swing by the DISCOVERY TIMES SQUARE MUSEUM to check out their newest exhibit: Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.  It is an out of this world experience where Marvel & NASA have teamed up to promote S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) lessons in a fun way through immersing visitors into the cinematic universe of Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor.  I haven't been to it yet, but a friend of mine took his kids and gave the experience a big green Hulk's thumbs up!

Apparently walking through the exhibit is like having a walk on role in a Marvel Super Heroes movie and the whole experience stays in character to a point that it feels as if you are part of a comic book adventure.  The theme of the exhibit is that you have been recruited to become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest agent and you are attending the top secret Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training & Tactical Intelligence Operatives Network) to be initiated and trained about the history and secrets of the super heroes you will be working with in your new job.  The exhibit is filled with movie props and replicas from the Marvel films plus high-tech displays and experiments that utilize super hero and villain themes that make educational lessons entertaining. As you walk through the S.T.A.T.I.O.N., you are funneled through various rooms dedicated to each of the main Avengers characters.

For example, Captain America has relics from his World War II days, the super soldier chamber that gave him his special abilities, and his current Avengers costume on display.  There are a variety of challenges in his room where you can pit your strength and reflexes against his.  Thor's area features a star map with a focus on astronomy where you can locate Asgard and other spacial items.  The Hulk's room is filled with microscopes and discusses the science behind Bruce Banner's transformation.  While you can't wear the armor, you can get a good look at an Iron Man suit from the movies.  Plus there are what are called JARVIS visors that give you the experience of being in control of Iron Man through scanners that track your eye movement.

In addition to the tier one characters, they also have the outfits for characters like Hawkeye, Black Widow, Loki, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Agent Coulson....plus a bad guy from the first Avengers movie captured in suspended animation after the Battle of New York, a Chitauri (also know as a Skrull to those of us who grew up reading comic books but Fox owns the movie rights to that name through its Fantastic Four license so the name was changed in the film)

My friend who visited said that while the Marvel props are a thrill to see the best part of the exhibit is experiencing all of the interactive features available to play around with.  So don't rush through the displays are meant for people to linger.  Taking that into consideration you may want to plan a visit avoiding peak attendance times so you have the least crowds to contend with.  Admission is by time slots so it does appear as there are some limitations to help provide everyone a nice opportunity to enjoy themselves without it being too hectic of a surrounding.

Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. really looks to be an exciting opportunity for both kids and kids at heart. This Geek Daddy really tries to focus on making education entertaining for my children and this exhibit really seems to take this attitude to heart.  I really like the NASA partnership to combine its science with the fiction of Marvel to create a scifi event that showcases how science and math can be cool.  I'm really hoping we have the opportunity to take a family roadtrip to New York this summer or fall to experience Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. at the Discovery Times Square Museum.

The one downside is that like all things in the Big Apple it seems a little pricey.  Tickets are $27 for adults, $19.50 for kids 3 to 11 (children 12 and over are adults prices - yikes!) and Seniors 65+ are $23.50.  So a trip to this exhibit would cost my family $93....ouch!  Plus they charge extra for things like digital photo ops and other souvenirs, you didn't think you could leave without exiting a gift store did you?  They do offer a nice $25 parking deal with ticket packages which sounds like a bargain if you are driving into Manhattan and if you are going take advantage of the American Express sponsorship deal that gives you a free digital photo op at the exhibit if you buy your tickets with their credit card.

For more information about Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. visit www.discoverytsx.com

New toys let you create your own ultimate Marvel Super Hero

Wouldn't it be great to be able to take the features you like the best from your favorite super heroes and villains mashed together to create your own ultimate creation?!  Now you can with Hasbro's newest line of toys MARVEL Super Hero Mashers.

My 5 year old son and I always take a run through the toy department during our weekend grocery shopping trip at Meijer and these toys caught both of our attention this week.  So when we returned home from shopping I looked them up online to find out a little more info.

Because of issues with severe food allergies in our household to peanuts and tree nuts many candy treats associated with holidays like Easter are off limits to our kids so we often supplement trick or treat bags and Easter baskets with a few toys in lieu of sweets.  According to the Hasbro website, MARVEL Super Hero Mashers are figures that you can take apart and interchange the parts from other figures in the collection to create your own super hero, or villain, combinations.  Figures are sold individually and currently feature Captain America, Dr. Doom, Hawkeye, The Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Patriot, Spiderman, Thor and Wolverine to choose from. There are 3 categories of these toys, ELECTRONIC ($19.99) which have battery powered special effects [ Iron Man / Wolverine ], UPGRADED ($14.99) which has additional accessories like missile launchers included [Hulk / Thor / Iron Patriot], and BASIC figures ($9.99) which include Captain America, Dr. Doom, Hawkeye & Spiderman. The age range for these toys is listed as 4 & up.

On the Hasbro website they have an app that lets you create your own Marvel Mashers and make a poster that you can print out like the one I've posted above: http://www.hasbro.com/heromashers/en_US/mash-up.cfm

These seem like fun toys, but one concern I had was the price.  As individual toys they actually appear to be reasonably priced, but when you take into consideration that you need to buy multiple figures to enjoy the mashup benefits of the toy line that price starts to become somewhat expensive.  If you were to buy 3 figures (one from each category) for your child you are suddenly spending nearly $50+ dollars. You know your child isn't going to want just one figure because the point is to get these for the mashup ability.  I'm still on the fence about buying these toys but not necessarily ruling out that my friend the Easter Bunny may stop by with a couple of them (they are mashups you really need to buy at least 2 or otherwise just buy the regular super hero action figures on store shelves).