This is a review of Crayola Mess Free Color Wonder, the listed design is Disney Princess but the set we own is exactly the same except ours is branded as the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I wanted to get some different toys and activities for my daughter to help keep her away from the TV during the daytime and she is into everything as they say! We had a particularly messy experience with some crayons in a restaurant recently so I knew she was interested in colouring in but I didn't want her trashing our house with crayons (although I am sure it will happen!).

What is it?
The claim for this set is that it is a mess-free colouring pen set which includes an 18 page magic colouring book. Suitable for ages 0-3, I bought it although our daughter is a little young for the book but we had a little play before I put it away for a later date.

In use
The boxed set contains five marker style colouring pens, quite chunky to hold each with different colour lids. When you take the top off they look like a clear colour and it is only when they connect with the magic paper in the colouring book that they actually work. We found that the first few seconds they went on clear then after that the colour started to develop. Quite feint at first, then it transforms into a vibrant colour, even the yellow turned into a lovely bright colour as I can find yellow felt tips to be a bit wishy washy sometimes. If you colour with the pens on the wall or table, nothing shows up so they are really good clean fun!

My thoughts
I was actually in the market for one of those water colouring sets that I have read about on this site and I still intend to buy some of those but these caught my interest when I saw them.

As I stated, my daughter is too young for these as she is currently into shredding anything that rips so I tore a page out for us to try so that she didn't rip up the whole colouring book. I must admit we were both having a lot of fun, with DD in her high chair (to contain her as she is very active). Obviously the various colours meant nothing to her and Mickey got a blue face and Donald got a green one.

Price and availability
I stumbled on these sets in Home Bargains for £2.99 each. I think for that price they were quite a bargain. There were different themes available including the Disney Princesses set.

Final word
I would say these are great for kids who enjoy colouring in, particularly at the early end of that scale as they are mess free, and safe to use. Those who are older will probably make a better job of matching better colours to the character but it's all good fun! I like how the pens only work with this special paper and with 18 pages there is plenty to go at. It would be a good compact set to take on a long journey too.
The pictures are great quality with lots of interesting features to colour in. With only five pens to choose from for colours it may be a bit limiting but at the price paid, I am happy with five pens.

We'll be putting away our set for now, as I don't think my nearly two year old daughter is fully appreciating them and I just hope that the pens don't dry up in the meantime, especially as I have got them out and used them! If they do, it's not the end of the world. We will probably try her again when she is two I think. As I type I can hear my DD shredding the remains of the picture we coloured in of Donald and Mickey!