by Helen Heard

Created on: March 22, 2008

We have all seen the commercials, the kids are coloring quietly with markers while mom is relaxing in the other room, and she doesn't have to worry about the mess, because they are using Crayola Wonder Markers. They can even color on the carpet or each other, and no muss, no fuss right, well let's review these products.

First a little history, the Crayola company was started way back in 1903, when the first box of Crayolas' (that sold for a nickel) was invented by two cousins Edwin Binney, and C. Harold Smith. Their company has always reinvented it self, and kept creating new things to keep up with the changing times. They have long since been the innovators of new and improved ways for kids to draw, color, and generally be creative.

A few years ago Crayola introduced their line of Crayola Wonder products. I gave these to one of the little girls that I baby-sit for Kaylee, on her second birthday, because she was always coloring with markers and making a big mess. Since I watch her every day, I had the perfect chance to see if they worked or not. So please allow me to share my pros and cons list, with you.

The Pros
One of the best things about this product is it actually does what the advertisers say it will do( with a few exceptions, more of that in the cons section). It does not color on the other kids, a major plus for me, because with markers Kaylee and her younger siblings used to look like the stars of TLCs' Miami Ink. It only colors on the special Crayola Wonder paper another plus, and a smart marketing ploy from the Crayola company. The markers come with about five in a package, and the paper package has quite a bit in it.

The Cons
What I did not like about the markers, is that they do leave a sort of mark, or streak on furniture, if the kids happened to color on their brown suede couch. It was not very noticeable though, it just looked like a dark streak, not the color of the marker. The other negative is the fact that you will need to keep buying the Crayola wonder paper, for the markers to work on.

Over all this is a pretty good buy, just make sure you still watch your kids while their coloring with it, and who knows, it might even make you feel a little more creative yourself.

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