Mom Discovers Genius ChatGPT Hack For Kids Activities

A Viral Parenting Hack is Born

A California mom is capturing the attention of parents everywhere after sharing a brilliantly simple use for ChatGPT. Holly Blakey posted a reel on her Instagram, @breathing.room.home, that quickly went viral, demonstrating an incredible parenting hack. The video shows how she uses the AI tool to create custom coloring pages from her family photos in just a few seconds.

The text on her video summed it up perfectly: "The best use of ChatGPT I've ever seen."

The 40-year-old mom of three explained that the idea first sparked when she saw kids with similar custom pages at a swim meet.

How to Turn Any Photo into a Coloring Page

The process is surprisingly straightforward. Blakey simply uploads a photo from her phone's camera roll into ChatGPT and gives it a simple command: "turn this into a coloring page."

Within moments, the AI processes the image and generates a clean, black-and-white outline of the original photo. The new image is perfect for printing and giving to her kids to color.

Her children were absolutely thrilled. "They couldn't believe it," Blakey shared. "My little one asked if I had ordered it." After showing her daughter how it was done, she was eager to create more pages in different styles, like "cartoon style, with bows." Blakey notes, "There's so much you can do with the prompts!"

More Than Just Coloring Pages: AI for Parenting

While many people associate AI tools with work and productivity, Blakey has found creative ways to integrate ChatGPT into her parenting life. She mentioned this isn't her first time using the AI for her family.

"The only other times I used ChatGPT were for curating a bedtime story for my 5-year-old and also creating an allowance contract for my 11-year-old," she said.

The first set of custom coloring pages became a heartwarming Father's Day gift for her husband to display at his office. They also printed some for the grandfathers, who were amazed by the homemade creations. Now, it's a regular activity. "We print some out each week to take to swim meets to color. Kids love them," she added.

A Viral Sensation with Mixed Reactions

Blakey's innovative idea resonated with millions. Her Instagram reel has amassed over 4.8 million views, with a flood of positive comments from fellow parents.

"This is absolutely amazing!" one user commented. Another wrote, "This is genius! Thanks for the idea! Just made a bunch of pages for the kids to color for their dad and grandfathers!"

However, the post also drew some criticism. A few users pointed out the significant energy consumption of AI models, raising environmental concerns. "People don't realize how much energy it takes to use AI for stuff like this," one person questioned. "Yes it's fun and cool, but is it worth it?"

Blakey is aware of the mixed feedback but remains unfazed. "I've seen a few comments that were positive; others, have a bone to pick," she said. "I mainly stay away from looking at comments all together. It helps that I work and have three kids—it doesn't allow me much time to care."