I bought these as a stocking filler for my daughter at Christmas. I had come across a craft sale online so only paid £1.49 for them. I think the average price is about £3 and they come in a packet of 6.

My daughter is only 3, but already I am fed up of buying felt tips and throwing them away because they have dried up, either because she hasn't put the lid on or because the lid has rolled off the table and vanished into thin air (probably with a little helping paw from our cat!). Sometime last year I bought some felt tips that supposedly could survive lid-less for 3 months without drying out, I think the claim is probably true as many of them are still going now, but it doesn't help with the problem of lids getting lost.

For these fabulous little markers to lose their lids is pretty much impossible, because they are attached! The lid flips off, but has two 'prongs' which keep the lid attached to the marker. There is a groove down either side of the marker so you can slide the lid down and pop it on the other end, keeping it well out of the way of the budding artist. My daughter could easily do this when we gave her the pens (aged 3 and a half), I imagine it might be too fiddly for young children to do but this would be easily solved by flipping all the lids off when your child wants to draw, then flipping them back on again when they've finished! Much easier than crawling around on the floor searching for lids. I find that my daughter always flips the lids back on herself when she's finished with them, kids love something a bit different and for her the novelty has not worn off.

So not only do these nifty little markers solve an age old problem, but the colours are lovely and vibrant, they are really nice to use and the nibs are pretty strong. My daughter has been using these most days for nearly four months now and the nibs are all in tact, they are not crushed/splitting and not a single one has 'tortoise headed' itself back into the casing, never to be seen again! The marker itself is quite chunky and the nib is quite thick so they may not be suitable for older children whose drawings are becoming more detailed and intricate, but for younger children I really can't fault them and will definitly be buying them again when these ones run out.