The founder of Kidlandia, illustrator and entrepreneur Brian Backus, has been living in a fantasy world of maps and monsters since he was a very little boy.
Kidlandia grew out of Brian’s 2004 concept to create personalized maps of imaginary kingdoms for children’s rooms… By naming the cities, islands, and other features of the kingdoms after family and friends, kids would feel more connected to those who love them. Brian, who produced educational multimedia titles for Disney and Voyager, was also intrigued by the idea that by engaging kids in namesake kingdoms, he could motivate them to understand maps, and accelerate reading skills…
Today, Kidlandia is comprised of a team of talented engineers, designers, and business professionals. Kidlandian team members share a passion to bring delight and meaning to the lives of children and their families. 2.5% of Kidlandia’s founding stock has been set aside as the basis for a future charitable Foundation benefiting children.
When I was asked if I’d like to review Kidlandia on my blog I was so excited! My grandparents often gave us personalized presents for Christmas when we were kids, and they were always my very favorite. I was excited for my boys to experience that same excitement and wonder when they received something was personalized and made especially for them.
Kidlandia offers a variety of personalized, whimsical maps, prints, and charts in a variety of price ranges. You can shop for gifts by price, by character (characters include Disney characters, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob, Veggie Tales, and Kidlandia Kreechurs), or by product type.
Here are a few of my favorite items:
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| Disney Princess Gallery Wrapped Canvas |
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| Whimsical USA Map Canvas Scroll |
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| Whimsical USA Map Poster |
I’ve always wanted to get a growth chart for my boys so I chose the Boy’s Canvas Growth Chart.
Kidlandia takes personalization to a new level with their built-in customization software. After you choose the item you’d like to buy you personalize it right then and there using their…. You can personalize your gift with a single name or dozens of names. I chose to use both my boys names and the nickname their papa gave them (“stinker pots”). I also included mine and my husband’s names. These all became names of creatures, kingdoms, oceans, and mountains on the map area of the chart. You can use as many or as few names as you’d like. I did run into a little trouble because I was trying to make the chart for 2 children instead of 1. There weren’t options for making the King, Queen, Emperor, Empress, etc plural. I think it would also be great if there was an option to upload your own pictures to the design. That would be especially cool for the Family Tree charts.
Just about everything else, however was fully customizable. For a quick summary of the customization process check out the How To Video on the Kidlandia Homepage.
The Growth Chart arrived very carefully packaged and was even better quality than I’d imagined. We don’t have much wall space in the boys’ room, but it fit perfectly on their closet door.
I liked the fact the the chart is hung by a ribbon. It made adjusting the height very easy.
Buy It:
You can purchase Kidlandia products at FAO Schwarz in NYC or from Kidlandia.com starting at just $15. You can purchase the Boy’s Growth Chart for $69. Kidlandia has also given me a code for 20% off your orders! Use code BHGARB20 at checkout and receive 20% off your entire order!
Disclosure: I was provided with the above mentioned products by the company, at no charge to myself, in order to facilitate a review. The opinions expressed are honest and are entirely my own.
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom
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