==The pens==

While we were shopping we decided to pick up some more colouring pens for my children. The last ones had dried out, and so when I came across these Crayola markers I decided to buy them. We have a range of craft items from the Crayola range, and find they are perfect for young children to use. There are lots of simple things about the markers that make them fantastic. Each colour has a quirky name like little lemon, or raindrop blue. This may not seem very exciting, but my children love the fact there are special names for each colour. I find every time they swap colours they will ask me what colour they are about to use. Even the packaging is loved by my children, with cartoon faces and a simple design they look nice.

The markers are half the size of standard coloured pens, and then the lid takes up half of the marker, so they really are very small. I was a little worried they would be too small to be able to hold properly, but we have found they are actually the perfect size for little hands. They are rather wide so that little one can hold them in their hand firmly. We received a range of colours in the set , and found that they are all very bright colours. There is enough choice to please children even in the smallest available pack.

==In use==

My children all love these pens as they find them very easy to use. The markers tip is not so wet that they run through paper, but are bold bright pigmented colours so that they still show very well. The colours have large heads, and they are shaped so that no matter which way little one holds the pen it will transfer on the paper easy. There is a small point at the tip of the pen to colour small areas, but the main head of the markers is round so they can cover large areas very easily. All of my children can use them without any trouble at all, and even my two year old son can be let loose with these pens.

My children all write in different ways. My two eldest children can hold a pen correctly, and they really enjoy colouring with these pens they seem to think they are comfy enough. My youngest son just grabs the markers in whatever way he can to draw on the paper, and he seems to find them comfy too. As the colours are being used by young children they need to be tough, and I find my children tend to draw over another colour and this can stain the pen. This does happen with these markers especially as the tip of the pen is so large, but if you just scribble on a piece of paper it transfers off fairly easily, leaving the original colour still usable. . As they are made for children as you would expect the pen does wash out easily. I find if any of the pens gets into clothes it will wash out on a normal wash without any help needed at all. They also wash of children's skin very easily, my son managed to get the green pen all over him making him look like Shrek, and after a few minutes in the bath there was no trace of it. The pen does not need to be washed with soap, and it also comes off very easily with baby wipes.

The lid fits on the end of the marker which both lengthens the area little one can hold it, but also means the lids are not lost as easily. The pens can also be clicked into the end of each other which my children thought was fantastic, and half the fun they have is building the pens up together. All three of my children can remove the lids without any problem, and they can also click them into place which means the pens are less likely to dry out. We have had a few of the pens left without lids, but amazingly after a few hours they could still be used. I have had problems with felt tips before as even after an hour they become dry, and the colour reduces but there are no problems with these pens.

==Summary==

We purchased ours from Asda for a 14 pack of markers we paid £2. Looking online I can see they come in a number of different pack sizes. These are available on Amazon at the moment for £3.50 for a 14 pack. I would recommend these pens to anyone with children, they may be a little more than other pens, but it is worth it in the end. We have had these markers for a while now with them receiving a lot of use from my children, they do seem to have dried out a little, but they still work perfectly.