Book Review: Bumper Wipe Clean Activities

Kregel has sent me some great review books over the years. But I just can’t help but think that today’s review book was about nine years too late! If I’d had Bumper Wipe Clean Activities when each of my children were first joining me in “big church,” it would have been a wonderful addition to our “keep them busy” supplies!

Bumper Wipe Clean Activities contains seventy pages of high-quality, dry-erase fun. Attached to the book with a secure, elastic strap is a single, black dry-erase marker. My only complaint is that this marker has no eraser.

Any number of felt-tip pens or erasable crayons can be used with this book. In fact, a handy little spot on the back allows you to test pens for use in this book. I actually put a little Sharpie mark on the spot and left it for about an hour. I then came back with a wet cloth to discover that it wiped cleanly off, even though it did take a bit of scrubbing.

The laminated pages are wonderful for a clean erase. Any marking will eventually be a pill to remove if left long enough, but dry-erase marks we left on this books for four or five hours cleaned off beautifully. In fact, I just wiped them off with my finger without the aid of an eraser, cleaner, or wet cloth.

Although Bumper Wipe Clean Activities would be great for keeping a three-year-old quietly busy scribbling away, non-readers do need whispered directions for completing most of the activities if they want to actually complete them as written. What I love most about the book, however, is that it even appeals to my 7-year-old! Many of the activities bore him, but some of the more difficult mazes, matching puzzles, and “find what’s wrong” pages are fun for him.

The activities themselves walk through the Bible from Genesis through Palm Sunday. The crucifixion and resurrection are not explored.

Even very active children will take at least a few minutes to get tired of Bumper Wipe Clean Activities. There are so many pages and activities, and each one looks very different. The pages are colorful, but some also have a great deal of black and white. This allows those who enjoy coloring to enjoy these pages with multi-colored pens or erasable crayons. The quality of this book is solid, ready to take the abuse of being carried around in an activity bag. It is also small enough to carry easily along with a package of markers or crayons.

Yes, I would have been delighted to have Bumper Wipe Clean Activities when my children were younger! I definitely recommend it!