List Price: $15.99
Official URL: mead.com
Rating: 5 stars

This calendar is a neat and different idea for keeping you and your kids organized while offering hours of creative fun. I would recommend this calendar as a gift idea for kids ages 4 on up. There are even some adults I know who love Spongebob who might find this calendar useful.

THE CONCEPT

This calendar is both toy and organization tool. The first page has four mini-calendars for September through December 2008. After that, each page contains a monthly calendar for 2009 on the bottom and a background for the static cling stickers on the top. The stickers include several characters from the Spongebob cartoon: Spongebob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs and others. Your child can use the stickers to create scenes on each page. Since the stickers are static cling and reusable, they can be moved from month to month, making it easy to create new scenes on the different backgrounds. There are also enough of them so that your child can leave them on a scene if he/she is proud of that particular creation.

As far as a tool for organization, it is impossible to write on this calendar with a regular ball-point pen due to the slick nature of its surface. I used a Sharpie permanent marker and while it still smudges if you rub it firmly with your finger, it appears to be the the best choice if you want your markings to last. The surface feels like a dry-erase marker would work well, too. Unfortunately, I don’t have one in my possession to test that theory.

PACKAGING

The calendar comes wrapped in plastic with a sturdy piece of cardboard amidst its pages to prevent bending in transit. It was very easy to open and use.

AESTHETICS

The images on the calendar are vivid and crisp, like freeze frames straight off the cartoon show. Each background is just like the scenes on the Spongebob cartoon and the calendar pages are set up to look like the inside of a ship. It would be a cute addition to the bulletin board of any kid’s room.

DURABILITY/QUALITY

The pages are made of a very sturdy paper with a laminated feel. It’s made to wipe clean if you get something on it so you can let your kids play with it with little supervision. The quality of the static-cling stickers is slightly lower. I had a few problems with hairline cracks developing if I didn’t pull them off the backing just right. Also, the stickers were hard to separate from the backing as the paper sometimes pulled off with the sticker. This frustrated my 4-year-old daughter who eventually just brought me the sticker pages and I pulled them all off and stuck them to the calendar. Since they are re-stickable, this tactic proved to be a good solution. Now she can simply peel the sticker off the page with ease and reposition it in another scene whenever she wants.

ISSUES/NITPICKS

The concept of this calendar is really cute. I think a page full of smaller stickers in addition to the play scene clings would be a great improvement for this product.  These could be used on the calendar portion to mark special days and events. My daughter really wanted to put stickers on her birthday and the birthdays of her cousins and friends, but the stickers included are too large to be used for that purpose and cover several days at once. I realize that this was not the intended function of this calendar, but I think it would make it even more versatile if that could be added in the future. In keeping with the Spongebob theme, a page of tiny seashells or bubble stickers would be perfect to make a special day stand out on the calendar.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Overall, I think this calendar is a great and inexpensive idea that would make an excellent last minute gift for any younger child. This calendar is also available in a Thomas & Friends design. The high quality graphics and reusable stickers make it a great value and a thoughtful way to get your child interested in the days, weeks and months of the year.

FIND AT:

These products can be found at Calendar Club and Carlton Cards stores nationwide or online at barnesandnoble.com or www.mead.com.