Back to School with BIC (Review and Giveaway)

 After 10 weeks of fun and frolic, it's difficult to get kids excited about going back to the regimented school year schedule.  Like all good parents, I like to get my kids to look forward to school by offering them something bright and shiny!  In my defense, it's not outright bribery -- kids actually do need pens and pencils, and there's no need to stick to boring black and blue when there are so many fun colors out there :)

Case in point:  BIC's new back-to-school line-up of writing instruments are combine reliability with a bit of bright color so kids can look forward to writing and drawing all school year long.  BIC sent me an assortment of goodies to fill my kids' backpacks with:

· BIC® Tech 2-in-1 Stylus and Pen – Our newest product that features a lightweight stylus on one end and a retractable ballpoint pen with smooth-writing Easy-Glide System® ink on the other!

· BIC Automatic Mechanical Pencil – Our innovative and refillable mechanical pencil that easily retracts with just one click of the clip at the top of the barrel.

· BIC For Her Gel and Marker Pens – These smooth-writing gel and marker pens bring style and sleekness to any writing experience.

· BIC Brite Liner Highlighter Tape – This one-of-a-kind, fluorescent tape not only adds vibrant highlights without bleeding through paper, but is also eraseable! !

· BIC Round Stic Grip – Offered in vivid fashion inks, this pen provides comfort for everyday writing.

· BIC Z4+ Roller in classic and fashion colors – With its .7mm fine point, this pen writes smoothly with a visible ink supply.


Below is a writing sample from all the pens mentioned above (except the stylus and the mechanical pencil):

The Z4 pens are definitely my favorite; they glide on smoothly and leave a beautifully fine line.  They also leave the biggest smudges, so be careful not to touch your work for a few seconds!  They come in an assortment of colors -- naturally, The Pea has claimed all the neon colors and she's so excited to use them to decorate her notebooks.

I was really impressed with the BIC for Her marker and gel pens -- the ink, that is.  I wasn't too keen on the feminine design (even The Pea doesn't really care whether the pen looks "girly" or not), but I love the way the gel pens write.  They don't write as nicely as the Z4 pens, but they don't smudge as badly either, so they are a great solution for kids who can't wait for ink to dry.

The BIC Round Stic Grips are regular ball point pens in fun neon colors.  We love the colors, but it takes a few seconds of scribbling to get the ink flowing -- which makes it great for doodling (no smudging at all!) but not for detailed artwork.

The BIC Highlighting Tape is just like white-out tape -- a novel idea and fun to use... but only when it works. I love the fact that you can erase the highlighting, but half the time the tape doesn't stick to the paper, and the other half of the time the tape unravels out of the container.  If you are a pro at using white-out tape, by all means get this, otherwise stick to highlighting pens!

The BIC Stylus is AMAZING.  I don't even care how the pen writes, the stylus gives the user so much control on touch pad surfaces!  Check out the cartoon that The Pea drew of herself using her iPad:

 She basically traced over a photo of herself, removed the photo, and colored it in.  She has tried doing this before but she has never had the degree of control that the stylus gave her.  Having both a stylus and a pen in a single instrument is BRILLIANT!

Win a BIC Back-to-School Pack
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a BIC Back-to-School prize pack which includes the following BIC products:

· BIC® Tech 2-in-1 Stylus and Pen
· BIC Automatic Mechanical Pencil
· BIC For Her Gel and Marker Pens
· BIC Brite Liner Highlighter Tape
· BIC Round Stic Grip
· BIC Z4+ Roller in classic and fashion colors

Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell me which of the BIC writing instruments you or your child would most like to have for the upcoming school year.

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

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I entered the BIC Back-to-School giveaway!  http://ow.ly/nA6yV

6) Tweet this once per day (1 entry per day)
You could win a BIC Back-to-School prize pack! Enter on @bonggafinds by 8/20 at http://ow.ly/nA6yV

7) Join any open giveaway on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for every giveaway you join)

The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on August 20, 2013; I will draw a winner at random on August 21 and post their name after they confirm acceptance. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here.

Disclosure: I received samples for review purposes.  Product information (in italics) is provided by Bic. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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