Customer Reviews

Color Wonder Activity Tote

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the Mess Free Color Wonder Activity and Tote package you have a great product for allowing children to blend imagination with mystery. Since the coloring book is blank until the child runs the color marker over the picture.

Everything comes in a sturdy mesh bag, which can be used as a lap desk if you are traveling. Although the lap desk is nice it is tailored more for the advanced children. Also the mesh bag has no enclosed sides so make sure the books fit into the pouch before putting the items away.

The variety of pictures include in the book is great, but the ink markers only show color when they move within the lines. This is great but for those learning to color for the first time this may not be the best way to learn.

One of the best things about this package is the fact that it is small and easy to put away which should make parent very happy. Also unlike other color markers there is virtually no odor from the makers, a very nice plus. Overall with minor improvements this product becomes a 4 star winner.

We bought this for my 2 year old daughter because she had a real interest in coloring. We have lots of coloring books and WASHABLE crayons, and we tried washable markers--they do clean up pretty well. I was attracted to the concept of color only where you want it, but really, anything my 2 year old creates, whether inside the lines or not, is art! I can see how this could be a confidence booster as she gets a little older, though. I also liked the portability and organizational side of the tote--I'm a tote bag and organization fiend! The book inside can be replaced with a new one, and there are "blank" notepads available, too which would be a bit more creative.

Despite all its attributes, we'll probably stick with washable crayons for awhile for the following reasons--
easier to get off of wood, or anything!
lots more coloring books and paper available--and a LOT CHEAPER!
while not as potent as permanent markers, these DO have a strong chemical smell--at least to us--and shouldn't be used in a small, confined space (judge for yourself)

I'm sure we'll use this item enough to justify buying it--trips to Grandma's or whatever. We just probably won't run out and buy a refill right away when the enclosed book is used up.

I love the idea of no-mess markers. Especially with my daughter and her love of drawing on all surfaces available. However there a couple of drawbacks to this product. The coloring book limits you to drawing only the items in the book, and only on certain areas of the page treated to respond to the markers. This tends to inhibit the "free spirit" of a young childs drawing development, although you can argue it makes them draw within the lines. The other issue is the seeming total lack of being able to order(at least online) more coloring books or drawing paper that will work with these markers without buying a whole new kit. I don't know about the rest of you, but my daughter went through that book in about two days. Now I have a bunch of markers and nothing left to use them on.

I bought these for my son because they claimed to be "mess free". They were great until all of a sudden my sons brand new little table had marker all over it and we couldn't figure out why. Turns out theses "mess free" markers act like permanent markers on wood. I sure wouldn't give my kid a permanent marker to color with so I can't figure out why these markers are advertised for children. Sure, they may make outings to church and other places "mess free" for the parents, but I feel sorry for all the church benches out there that now have permanent colored marker stains all over them. I definately wouldn't recommend this product to parents unless you know for a fact that your kid will not be coloring on a wood table, a wood bench, a wood desk, or any other hard wood surface were kids typically want to color. Just make sure you only have plastic or glass tables and NO wood cabinets, wood furniture, wood floors, etc. Otherwise you may as well give your kid a permanent marker.

The markers have a strong chemical smell that gives me a headache after about 20 minutes. Therefore, I limit the amount of time my daughter can use them. Also, the papers yellow over time and the colors fade. This is fine as long as you don't plan to keep the art as keepsakes. Otherwise, my daughter (age 5) loves to use both the notebook with pictures to color and the blank refill pages you can buy separately.

I purchased this product in the local Toys R Us for my 2 year old to use, because I was becoming tired of cleaning up crayon messes. My mistake. The Color Wonder markers colored all over my daughter's table and chair set that Grandma got for her first birthday. These markers can't be removed with conventional methods that I use to clean up crayon! Crayola's customer service was very nice and sent a package with a cleaner to remove the stains. Unfortunately, the cleaner (an orangey citrus type cleaner) left a worse stain than the Color Wonder markers. So now the chairs have orange cleaner stains on them, and the table has Color Wonder marker stains on it. I haven't yet had a problem dealing with (...) customer service, but have made it clear to them that the product and its cleaning solution need to be further researched. (...) Until this product has been further researched and reintroduced, I have advised friends and family to shy away from it.

My kids got some of these books & markers for X-mas & they are great! They won't stain hands or clothes, however, as previously noted they will stain certain woods. But these are still so superior to any marker out there for little ones. Mine are stored in the diaper bag & have saved me countless times. Another word of caution is that if you have impatient kids, like my 4 yr old, be sure they know that it takes a few seconds before the color fully shows on the paper. The colors are also not as bright but it is a small price to pay to me. We have several of the sets as well as the stampers & I know they are costly but I feel they are worth it.

My 4 year old son loves these, he really loves the books and magic markers. I love it because my two year old daughter can not mark up the walls, chairs, sofa, floor or anything else. My major issue is my son will grind the markers to the stump and finish the book in about ten minutes flat. At $7 or $8 dollars a pop, it's way too expensive for me. I think it's a great concept and my son loves to see that he can "draw in the lines", it's a real confidence booster. But for now, it's a sometime activity and we'll stick with the washable crayons and regular ol' coloring books for everyday.

My daughter and I loved this. For both of us,coloring is always fun. Me, for the mess free it claimed. I was so disappointed. The markers are "white" until you color on the Color Wonder paper. After a long time of coloring, the markers pick up the color. In other words, if you are using green, after several strokes, the color gets picked up by the marker tip. And that will get on furniture. The concept is great if they can fix that problem. Generic markers are a lot easier to get out. The pouch was a nice idea but the papers or book falls out because the top and bottom are not enclosed. Here in Arizona, we have the Queen of Clean ...and she has wonderful clean saving tips on getting markers and crayons out of a lot of things. So far though, nothing worked on my dinner table to get the color wonder out. ...If this problem is solved and the mess free really becomes mess free, I will get those again. For now, Washable is the best way to go.

I loved the concept of the markers. However they have left a greasy stain on my daughters clothing!! The package said that they didn't stain! I called and they gave me a long process to try and remove including Tide with Bleach..Is that one of their subsidiaries? I was very disappointed.