I don’t know about you, but at our house it’s very hard to find something that a preschooler and a one-year-old can do together without mutual frustration. She wants to destroy any LEGO buildings he constructs, turns the pages too soon on a book he wants to read, eats the puzzle pieces in front of him, presses the buttons on the Apple TV remote during a gripping Pokémon fight scene, or irreparably damages his artwork with the swipe of her crayon. I love to sit down and colour with Cub, but occupying his sister so we can do so proves impossible unless I also give her a marker. It only takes seconds for her face, clothes and hands to be fully coloured. Luckily, this past Sunday, as I stared down the barrel of seven more hours till bedtime, I had an activity in mind that they could both do: Crayola Color Wonder.
Markers and finger paints that only draw on special Color Wonder paper mean zero mess. Color Wonder markers won’t draw on regular paper, walls, furniture, clothes or skin. No need to put a smock on Little Miss Cub, no need to move my precious agenda out of markers reach.
But as soon as he touched marker to paper, the magic began and he was hooked. Our first sitting with Color Wonder was the longest he has ever stayed engrossed in his colouring. It was also the longest Little Miss was able to participate in the activity without making a mess or getting annoyed that she couldn’t use markers too!
Little Miss is a bit too young still for the finger paints. She just wants to lick the paint off of her fingers. That said, at least her mouth didn’t turn blue! The paints and markers are nontoxic and safe for kids to use, but I still don’t want her eating them. I was actually happier giving her a marker to hold in her fist, and she seemed to enjoy drawing on the plain Color Wonder paper, seated at the table next to her much admired big brother. Half the time she was drawing with the wrong end, but at least the business end wasn’t colouring her sleeves or her face!
I like how the Color Wonder colouring sheets have images with large spaces to colour rather than super fine details. Cub’s practicing his fine motor skills by working on staying inside the lines. Cub’s favourite part of the Color Wonder colouring pages are the hidden designs that are only revealed once you colour over them!
Color Wonder kits are ideal for travelling over the holidays. On the airplane or in the car, or on Grandma’s white sofa, there’s no stress! They also make awesome stocking stuffers that the kids can start using right away without worrying about wrecking their holiday outfits or ruining the table cloth.
You can find Color Wonder products at all major retailers, or at Crayola’s online store.
This post is brought to you by Crayola Color Wonder but the images and opinions are my own.
Leave a Reply