** Crayola Colour By Numbers With 6 Pens **

I loved Crayola sets as a child and they are still going strong 20 years later. They have to be one of the most famous arts and crafts brands around and I expect their products to be of good quality.
This colour by numbers set comes with 16 different pages to colour in and 6 chunky pens. It comes in a cardboard package which is quite exciting to open. It is very bright and enticing so should make any child smile.

** Price & Availability **

I bought these for £4.00 from Very.co.uk but you can find them popping up everywhere, especially on the lead up to Christmas. I have seen them for £3.49 on Amazon but in other online shops they cost as much as £7.05 which is extortionate!

** 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Go Go Go! **

As well as painting, my niece loves to draw. She is 5 years old but patience isn't her virtue (a bit like me!), so she tends to colour in a little bit and then turn the page. So on her recent visit last week I thought these would be a great little thing to keep her occupied.

This product is exactly like painting by numbers, where each colour is labelled with a number and the child has to colour in the corresponding sections. There are 16 pages so quite a lot for my niece to get through and she liked to go through the entire pack before deciding which once to complete. So for example, there was a little flower that had the number 1 inside each petal, and this corresponded to the red pen which had number 1 printed on it.

The 6 pens that are included are numbered several times on the actual pen. The bright lids and coloured numbers make it easy to choose which the correct one is. The colours are bright although my niece was slightly disappointed there was no pink. The chunky barrels make it easy for her to hold and would make it easier for younger children as well.

The pictures that were made to colour in were quite simple with relatively thick black outlines making it easy for my niece to stay in the lines and would be great as a guide for younger children. She chose to fill out one section of the picture first and said out loud the numbers as she did them. She is fine with her numbers now but it would be quite a good learning tool for a child, helping them count from 1 to 6. Another way could be to challenge them to do all the '1' sections first and then all the '2's and so on.

My niece didn't quite finish the pictures as she did get bored after about two thirds of the way through. The exciting of matching the numbers got a bit boring for her. But she need go back later in the day and chose another picture to start again. The ink in these pens is washable but luckily my niece didn't get any on her clothes. She did get it on her hands and it didn't come off straight away even with soap and a little scrub.

Overall a great little set, it kept my niece amused for about an hour and she enjoyed the fact that she was almost completing a puzzle rather than just colouring. A great alternative to some pens and plain paper or a colouring book.

** IMPORTANT INFO **

Manufacturers recommended age 3+