Customer Reviews

Educational Insights Tub of Smencils

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's a pencil, and it smells like something appealing. That's it, as far as a kid is concerned. So, yeah, kids like them better than regular non-smelling pencils.

I just dislike the company's marketing these as some kind of environmental boon... each individual pencil comes in a plastic tube! Can you imagine the extra plastic that this uses? Compare the packing method to that of, say, bulk pencils from Staples where they come tightly packed in a cardboard box. How much extra fuel is used to ship the added bulk?

The pencils are fine - they just need to cool it with the environmental claims.

These were the hit of second grade for earth day. These pencils not only smell good they are made from recycled paper. My grandsons have fun trading different flavors.

When I first heard the word Smencil, I thought someone was saying "Pencil, smencil". My daughter and her class LOVE these! Her teacher has some of these as part of their "rewards" box and this is all they ever choose when they've earned a reward. They really do smell like the flaver each claims to smell like. The fact that they are made from 100% recycled newspapers makes me feel good about helping the environment at the same time. I will gladly be back for more once these are gone (which won't be for a while!)

I have been buying smencils for the last 6 years, and am on my 7th case. Sadly, it will be my last. The last 2 cases I have bought have been nothing but problems. I use smencils as rewards for students in my classroom. Here are the problems:

1 You can't buy individual scents, you must buy them in packages with an equal amount of each scent. Unfortunately, the orange and grape are boring and no one wants them. I have over 150 of each of those sitting around since no one wants those. When the smencils first started being made, they would change up the scents every year but the last few years it has been the exact same scent.

2) The last case I received had at least 20% of the pencils stuck in the case. The only way to get the pencils out was to cut open the bottom of the case and cut the pencils out with a scissors, giving me hours of extra work. Some would not come out unless I broke the case open.

3 Many of the smencils came with the bottom of the tuble holding the pencil broken. This cause many of the pencils to fall out of their case which then causes them to lose their scent much faster.

Sadly, I tried twice contacting the company and their customer serice, but got no response.

I LOVE these! Not only do they smell good, but they're good for the environment too. They're made from recycled newspaper.

I bought the bucket for my daughter to take some to school. We kept a full set of smells at home, and I kept a full set for at work. My daughter took the rest to school for her class. She's 7, and she loves them too. Her teacher thought it was really fun, and her classmates love them as well. I've even had some of the people I work with ask me where to get them. My favorite is the root beer. It smells just like a root beer float. Orange, peppermint, and watermelon are also favorites of mine. My daughter loves the bubble gum and cotton candy. They make writing and doing homework fun. They're reminiscent of those smelly markers, but the smell lasts way longer. I've been using the same pencil (root beer) for almost 6 months, and it still smells just as good.

They sell do-it-yourself smencils at the smencils website [...], which includes 2 smells you don't get in the bucket... marshmellow and strawberry. We did these at home and our house smelled soooo good and fruity for the rest of the day. They also sell colored smencils at the smencils website.

We've had so much fun with the smencils products. I would suggest them for anyone with school-aged kids, or even people who just like fun pencils.

BEWARE of incorrect description on site describing 50 count pencils in bucket. Upon opening my box, I counted only 45. I needed these for students on Monday (had also paid 2nd day shipment fees), so this is highly disappointing as now I am short 5 pencils and don't have enough for distribution to the classes.

Amazon requires shipment returned to them for refunds or exchanges, but I don't have enough time to send the package back to receive replacment in time. I've requested replacement of 5 pencils to be sent to me, but don't expect response from Amazon on it. I'll update review if I do.

We have been buying smencils for about 3 years now. Amazon is one of the only places I know where to get them. They sell them at my daughter's school for fundraisers for $1 each so this is a good price for 50, then again it is a fundraiser. These pencil's smell lasts a very long time as long as you keep them in their tube and they resharpen very well not like other pencils I have bought. I have been so frustrated with other pencils when I go to sharpen them and only have of the pencil sharpens or the lead is so soft it breaks when you write..well not with smencils they are high quality and I like the fact that they are recycled. My daughter loves them and so do her friends. Your children will love them too oh and so will you..I bring these to college with me also..like I said these sharpen so much better then the other pencils I have bought..so buy them you won't regret it.

These are great pencils! My 7 and 8 year olds love these. At first I thaught they might be colored pencils but they are not. The standard gray lead writes as good as a high quality standard pencil. There are 10 different scents that are all great. The ereaser on the end is o.k. but not the greatest. My kids are giving them out at their school holiday partys. My 8yr olds teacher has recently banned lead/mechanical pencils in class because the kids play with them too much. She thaught these were great. Nothing really to play with, just like a standard pencil. Only fun and smelly. She was happy everyone was getting one.

I am a homeschooling mom who is currently teaching an 8 year old, a 6 year old, and a 4 year old. My kids LOVE these pencils. They take great pleasure in picking one particular pencil to do their workbook pages that day. I enjoy scented things myself, so I use them too. The scents are strong but pleasant, without too much of a chemical smell. These pencils are a real treat and make doing school work or homework a little more fun.

If I could, I would buy each student of mine one of these pencils to keep. Although a bit pricey, they work like a charm for my middle and high school students for good behavior. On top of that my classroom smells awesome when the kids write with them.