by Kaitlyn Hamilton

Created on: November 19, 2008

Crayola makes an entire line of paint and coloring products in the Color Wonder category. The Color Wonder products will only work on special paper which means less mess for parents to clean up. The Color Wonder products won't leave marks on skin, clothing, or carpets, but you do still have to monitor your little artist while they use these products since the markers will leave stains on certain types of wall paint and upholstery.

Crayola Color Wonder products make great gifts, especially for younger children. Just be sure to include a few extra packs of the special Color Wonder paper because the kits you buy only have a few pages and kids will go through them in a hurry.

My favorite of all the Color Wonder products is the Sprayer. The sprayer kit is a type of air brush and it comes with a tablet of the special paper, a couple of Color Wonder markers, some stencils, a magic reveal crayon, a work mat, and four color cartridges. The kit is very inexpensive and can provide hours and hours of fun for kids of all ages. Be sure to buy four C size batteries for the sprayer and you will probably also want to pick up some extra stencil kits, special paper, and refill color cartridges.

All the child has to do is place one of the stencils on the special paper, select the color for their sprayer, then spray within the stencil outline. It works like magic and the little ones will giggle and be in awe for hours. The sprayer and stencils allow them to create beautiful pictures with crisp outlines and perfect shading with very little effort. It's certain to be a huge hit for kids of any age. It also makes a great gift for seniors who are confined since regular markers and crayons are more difficult for their hands, but the sprayer is easy for them to use.

I also recommend the Color Wonder Color Surge Sketch and Draw Set. It comes with special markers and brightly colored paper that changes color when the marker is applied. You can even change green paper to white by using the white marker. Kids love it! The set comes with a 20 page pack of colored paper, 8 markers, and a stencil. The bright colors inspire little imaginations to create all sorts of art work.

I thought the Color Wonder Magic Light Brush was a little expensive and the finished art project isn't as impressive as some of the other Color Wonder products. The colors are very pale on the paper and the light brush tip is quite wide so it doesn't give them as much control, but it can be a lot of fun in a dark room to see the tip of the light brush change colors as it passes over the different paints. I think that younger children will enjoy the Light Brush, but I would probably stick with the Sprayer for older kids. It was a lot more fun.

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