Crayola Crayon Maker

Tonight I am on Mom It Forward’s  Girls’ Night Out ( #gno)  panel on Twitter  sponsored by Crayola to discuss creative gift giving and decorating. As a panelist I was also lucky enough to receive a cool new Crayola product , and although not required, I wanted to review it. I was not paid for the review but like I said I was given the product free of charge.

I have made crayons numerous times here on No Time For Flash Cards, once during a heat wave on my patio.  This time though I was able to keep my oven off, and could do it rain or shine. When my son and I opened the box at first I was a little disappointed that the product was something that was suggested for 8+ since my only child is not quite 3,  but then I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to see how friendly this would be for families with multiple ages.  I am sure there are many households out there that shy away from products like this thinking that since they have younger children it wouldn’t be safe with a toddler or preschooler around.

I was impressed.

First and foremost this product gets hot ( on the inside)  and there needs to be parental supervision – that said I was very impressed with all the built in safey features.  Before I get to those let me show you with the help of my trusty assistant how easy it is to use.

1. Break your crayons into small peices.  8 crayons are provided for you but you can use any crayola crayons.

2. Next place them in the tray.This is where my little one stopped acting as helper and just watched from then on. Remember it is suggested for 8+.

3. Close the lid, plug it in , turn the dial and go.

Now while we are waiting for the crayons to melt let me get back to the safety features.  The lid you see locks.  When you turn the dial to start the melting process it locks and stays locked until it’s safe to touch.  I purposefully tried to open it many times, I tried to “speed” up the ticking dial and it was all to no avail. Nothing opened that lid until the time was up.  This would have frustrated me as a curious destructive 8 year old but I am awed as a safety conscious mom. I also like that the heating comes from a light bulb, which is easy to remove if you are planning on storing this and don’t want unauthorized use!

4. Oooh look they are melting. Now melting does take a while and it’s unlikely that your kids will be watching the whole time- but once they are melted the light goes off and it’s time to …

5. Tip the wax into the molds ( all still protected by the see through lid) and be amazed.

6. When the ticking stops- open the lid .

7. Clean up. Well we all hate clean up right? Unfortunately it was harder to clean than I was hoping.  I even retested it and grabbed the tray as soon as the lid was unlocked , then it was HOT ( not hot enough to burn but too hot to comfortably handle) and still the wax didn’t all wipe off . So I hacked at it with a plastic pampered chef tool, and made a bigger mess.

8. When the crayons are cool, pop them from the mold, put them into the holders and voila!

9. Get creating with cool swirly colors. I have to say these end up as nice as real crayons. Often when you make your own they don’t write as smooth, and these are awesome.

So overall – the product was fantastic even if clean up wasn’t. I would happily suggest this to families this holiday season.  Oh wait the last thing that I think is really wonderful, the price. I totally expected a SRP of $50 for this, nope 29.99 !  I was shocked.  So if you have a little artist  this is a great option, and a safe one even if they have some younger curious siblings!