Encourage a budding Cezzane, Monet or Schulz with the Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack
Written: Jan 22 '03 (Updated Feb 17 '03)
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Pros: Creative artistic toy, classic products, great backpack for organizing
Cons: Not specifically washable variety of markers, no drawing pad or paper
The Bottom Line: Timeless and classic, these items will hold a child’s attention and provide an outlet for their creativity for many many months (or even years!)
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| elainehn's Full Review: Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack |
Going to a child’s birthday party or have another gift giving occasion on hand? Want to avoid the Barbie/SpongeBob/Barnie/Bob-the-Builder/whatever character happens to be being uber-hyped this month type gifts? Not sure of the child’s interests, likes or dislikes? Prefer gifts that are a bit educational or creatively stimulating (but still cool)? Want something special as a back to school treat for your pre-schooler or kindergartener who doesn’t understand why big brother/big sister is getting lots of stuff (school supplies) and he isn’t? Check out the Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack.
What you get:
This terrific clear plastic back pack is just the right size for most pre-schoolers and elementary schoolers and is chock full of fantastic Crayola products. Every budding artist is sure to find something fun to create with in this set. The backpack contains a 16-count pack of crayons, a 6-count pack of chubby sidewalk chalk, 8 markers, and 10 mini-stampers. The manufacturer recommends this kit for children ages 4 and up but I’m sure younger children could enjoy the crayons and chalk, and even the markers and stamps with adult supervision.
Like the crayons and chalk, the markers and stampers are kid safe and non-toxic, and they are not specifically the washable type. I’ve found that the color washes off of skin fairly easily with soap and water and a bit of rubbing at bath time (though for best removal, wash immediately after coloring) … and in general it will wash out of clothing and off most hard surfaces fairly easily. The ink can however leave harder to remove stains on and upholstery simply because you can only spot clean furniture cushions and the like. Younger children should probably still be supervised when using these markers and/or you may wish to cover their work surface with newspaper or craft paper.
The sturdy 8.5”x8”x5” backpack keeps art supplies organized for use at home or on the go … (and of course can be used to hold lots of Barbie clothes or Legos or whatever else your little one decides to fill it with once all the markers and crayons and chalk have found other homes.) The back straps are adjustable for a comfortable fit on most younger children. The straps, zipper and handles all seem to be well attached to the heavy plastic of the pack and should withstand usual wear and tear from the average child.
What’s Missing?
Paper! Of course we can all find spare paper around the house and most kids probably have drawing pads or coloring books … but wouldn’t it have been great if Crayola had included a small pad of drawing paper designed to fit into this pack? The addition of a drawing pad would make this a perfect travel set for car or plane trips.
Stencils – not a biggie, but Skye is at an age where she loves to either use stencils to fill in designs or to trace outlines. She’ll actually trace about anything that will hold still long enough. Stencils certainly aren’t an essential, but if this pack were expanded to include them, I think they would definitely be enjoyed.
How long did your child seem interested in the toy?
Well, we’ve only had this particular set since Christmas … but Skye has played with at least some part of the set almost every single day since then. Sometimes she colors a picture in a coloring book, sometimes she draws on plain paper, sometimes she writes/copies her ABCs, etc.
I’m positive that the chalk will be used up, the crayons worn down, lost or broken, and the markers used up or dried out (and items thus replaced) long before Skye actually looses interest in the items. Almost every child I know, seems to be interested in crayons and markers and chalk from the time the are old enough to hold them through elementary school and well beyond.
What did your child seem to like or dislike about it?
Skye particularly enjoyed being able to pack everything back into the backpack and take to Nana’s house. I think having the backpack and organizing it as a individual set made it more special than just packing up a hodgepodge of art supplies that she already owned.
She enjoyed drawing on Nana’s back patio with the chalk and shared with her brother and cousin … and biased or not, I have to say that I was VERY impressed with their drawings! She’s colored with the markers and crayons in various coloring books and created original master pieces on notebook paper and printer paper. She doesn’t seem quite as into the stampers as I thought she might be. She plays with them a bit, but seems much more interested in actually drawing and coloring with the other items.
Price, Availability, etc.
This set can be found through many on-line retailers and at many local retailers who carry Crayola products. It may be easier to find at toy stores and mall stores than smaller local discount department stores such as Wal-mart … though during holiday seasons and back-to-school time, many stores may carry additional products such as this that they don’t normally stock year round.
The cost of the Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack is around $12 though you may find it on-line for as little as $9.99 and of course if you happen to find it locally during a clearance sale or on a mark-down shelf you may find it for less. Note the $2.79 price that shows up in the Epinion’s data base for this product is actually for another Crayola product and not for the Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack filled with supplies. I’ve noticed a similar problem when doing a web search for the product. Some sites list the item and show a very low price but when you follow the link to the retailer, it goes to a product such as an art apron or single pack of crayons.
~ Final Thoughts ~
Along with books, Crayola (and other art) products are almost always a FABULOUS alternative to typical toy-of-the-moment gifts. Timeless and classic, these items will hold a child’s attention and provide an outlet for their creativity for many many months (or even years!) The Crayola Art Buddy Back Pack is a fantastic purchase for your own child or as a gift for any child from pre-school through at least early elementary school. I think almost all kids up through middle school would love to have the crayons, markers, etc. though older children may find the actual backpack makes the set seem a bit baby-ish. So you’ll have to make the call on the age appropriateness based on your own intended recipient.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 11
Type of Toy: Arts and Crafts
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
elainehn
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Member: Elaine HN
Location: Near Atlanta, GA
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