Crayola has long been a friend to my household. There have been few occasions where I have left the home without a Crayola product in my bag. With a wide range of ages, each of my kids require a different product to take along on long trips or even to church. Crayola isn’t just regulated to trips outside of the house though, we also enjoy using the various art products at home. Coloring, painting, and sculpting is a nice way to spend time away from all those electronic devices that seem to invade our lives non-stop.
Since becoming a homeschool parent, we have used Crayola products almost every day. Sure, we’ve occasionally veered towards other brands or off-brands, but the truth it is, none of them are quite as good as Crayola. We use Crayola for various art projects or for coloring maps, writing assignments, or simply used for goofing off in between subjects.
Here are some of my Crayola favorites:
What comes to mind when you think of Crayola? I bet the first thing you think of are crayons. Crayons are as Americana as apple pie. I have very clear memories of picking out crayons at the beginning of the school year. Wanting that fresh new box to begin the school year. And I didn’t want the small 12 or 24 count. I wanted the big 64 count. If only they had the 96 count back when I was a kid. And you know when you accidently grab one of those crayon knockoffs. The color doesn’t look as good nor does it feel right. You know what I’m talking about.
Now you might wrinkle your brow at this suggestion, but I love the coloring pages. When my daughter was smaller, we would go to the library and our favorite librarian would immediately begin searching for Crayola coloring pages for her. My kids enjoy searching for a favorite picture to print off and it seems to add to their coloring fun.
I have a toddler and… Okay, I won’t only blame my toddler here. Everyone in my house (including me) is messy. Using Crayola washable paints and markers helps to lessen my anxiety as I watch colors fly onto clothes, tables, and everything else in close proximity.
Once upon a time, I was into sculpting. It was fun and I was pretty good at it. Those days are gone, but I still enjoy being crafty with my hands. My kids have adopted my love of sculpting and air-dry clay is a great way to introduce kids to sculpting in a non-messy way. Can you tell I hate messes? The clay is easily manipulated and dries quickly. Once dried, the kids can paint their creations.
The Sketch Wizard is a great tool to assist those budding artists. By placing an object or a picture on an easel like platform, the child can look through a hole and copy with great detail. Artists have long been using similar objects to perfect their artwork. With the Sketch Wizard, Crayola has made it easy to assemble and begin creating.
Color Alive is the newest Crayola tool to get kids excited about coloring. With Skylanders, Princesses, and Fairies to choose from, every kid will find a favorite coloring book. But the fun doesn’t stop there. After coloring, kids can use their parent’s phone or iPad and take a picture of their creation. Then, using the Crayola Color Alive app, (I know, everything has an app now) the picture comes to life. You can also take a selfie with your creation, which is actually a lot of fun.
Whether spending time with your children over some art supplies or needing some time to yourself to cook, clean, or some other task accomplished; Crayola is there to help.
Disclosure: Crayola provides samples for my review, but the opinions are my own.