When Eight Isn’t Enough, Move On Up To Crayola’s 24 Pan Washable Water Colors!
Written: Aug 01 '04 (Updated Nov 09 '04)
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Pros: Nice colors, comes with one brush, project fold out sheet included.
Cons: Cheap plastic case, comes with one brush, project sheet is pretty boring.
The Bottom Line: Want to give your budding artist a little more color to work with? Introduce them to Crayola’s 24 Pan Washable Water Color paint set!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Crayola 24 Pan Washable Water Colors |
When it comes to picking out paints for kids, watercolors are usually the best way to go until they are responsible enough to use other types. The clean up is easier, it washes off their skin and clothes easier and they are usually a lot cheaper. With that being said, I think I have invested money into almost every Crayola watercolor paint on the market to try and get my brood into some type of artistic expression. All this did was create a huge stock pile of paint cases with them occasionally breaking them out to pop out the color disks to water for a science experiment. That’s where my little Annabelle comes into play; she’s my neighbor’s daughter but she spends her days here during the week when her father is at work. I don’t dare jinx myself and say “I always wanted a little girl” because, put bluntly, the baby factory has a ‘closed’ sign on it – besides that, there is no way I would ever be able to handle all that girlie stuff like Barbie’s and playing dress up. Since she is here most every day during the week, she always creeps into the hall closet to check out the arts and craft stuff I’ve been hording over the years. A few weeks ago she broke this out and had an absolute blast with it.
Crayola 24 Color Washable Watercolor Paint Set
The biggest draw here is that you get 24 colors to choose from – all watercolor, all washable. Good thing too because Annabelle isn’t exactly the neatest little artist on the planet. When she got done using this it looked like she was a little hippie – hair all askew, clothes looking like they were tie dyed and more pain on her than on the paper. Even so, cleaning her up was easy and her clothes came out of the wash looking just as good as when she knocked on my door at eight in the morning. I rarely have complaints about Crayola products in general, sure there are some that could use a little improvement but I’ve never come across one that completely flat out sucked or had no redeeming qualities. This is the kind of paint set that you buy just for the additional colors – the plastic storage case leaves a lot to be desired and the fact that it only comes with one brush really irks me. Would it have been that big of an issue to add another one so a child could spend less time cleaning the brush and more time painting?
Don’t get me wrong, this is a great paint set – but that is all it is. If you have paint sets from other companies that have the same sized pain pods, you are better off popping these out of the flimsy plastic case and putting them into something more solid than to have to deal with the eventual mess that will happen. The paints mix nicely with water and hold a lot of their vibrancy when they are dry but unless you use these on a heavy paper or poster board, chances are you will get those ugly waves on the paper from water saturation. Again, this is something that could have been downplayed had Crayola opted to add in another brush. If you are interested in investing a dollar or so into an empty paint pod carrier, you can find them at most art stores in the paint section – this is a great way to make the best use of this Crayola product and give your child a painless and less messy art experience.
There are a few downsides to this product – some of which I mentioned in passing – it comes with only one paint brush and the plastic case is pretty much useless. I really think Crayola skimped on this part of the product because, while it does open and close easily, it is an accident waiting to happen when more than one child is using it at a time. Eventually someone is going to get one of the edges caught on a sleeve or bump it off the table and trust me, no amount of newspaper is going to help you at that point. This almost means that you are going to have a pretty big mess if you don’t have a ton of paper towels around to dry off the brushes after they are cleaned before they start to go for another color. There is a fold out project sheet tucked inside the plastic case but it seems more like an advertisement for other Crayola products than it does something to keep kids busy or inspire them. The colors that are used in this set are nice and really make it worth while having around but I highly suggest trying to find something else to store them in.
Colors
The real advantage of buying this over the standard eight pan variety is that you get more color variety. You have the basic colors like white, black, brown, green and blue but you also get a few neon colors like orange and pink as well as shades like rose, mint green, violet, crimson and dark brown. The color selection is nice but if a child is just starting out, you may want to give them a smaller set than having them have to sit there and labor over which shade to use. These paints are non-toxic and do wash out easily from clothing but you have to get them in the sink or washing machine as soon as possible. Follow the care instructions on the back of the package to make sure you get the best results. And please, just because these are non-toxic, it doesn’t mean that you should allow kids to eat them … supervision is a necessity with any type of paint or craft type item, that is unless you really enjoy cleaning up a huge mess.
The Bottom Line
This was a great concept but poorly implemented. Crayola really tried to save some money with the packaging – I would have gladly paid more to have a solid flip top plastic case like the one on the 8 color set and it would make it a lot easier for kids to use. Annabelle really had a great time adding new colors into her art work and even managed to drag my two youngest into the garage and get them painting with her. All in all this is a great product with a few faux pas – if you can get past the ones that I mentioned, you and your child are in for some great times with this washable water color set!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Other Crayola product reviews …
• Big MiniStampers • Doodle Pad • Watercolor Pencils • Art & Craft Brushes – 8 Count • Create-A-Kid • Collecting Keepsakes • Halloween Treat Pack • Halloween Boo Bucket • Washable Water Colors – 8 Color • Pencil Pouch • Crayola Crayons – 24 Count • Metallic Crayons • Superfine Markers – 5 Count • Gel FX Washable Markers • Tub of Fun • Crayola Sketch Pad • Point Tip Scissors • Sidewalk Chalk – Chicks & Eggs • Art & Craft Brushes – 4 Count • Twistables – 16 Count • Stack-N-Store Art Tower • Washable Water Colors – 24 Color • Sidewalk Chalk – Animal Assortment • Crayola Lap Desk • Click ‘Em On Washable Markers • Washable Markers – 16 Count • Alphabet & Number Pad • Blunt Tip Scissors • Spinning Desk Top Organizer • Crayola Online Store •
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $4.00
Type of Toy: Arts and Crafts
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
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