I have to admit this – Target seems to be getting the upper hand in the Crayola market. Wal-Mart used to be the king of basic crafts, but they are slow to add new products to their inventory and even slower at removing the discontinued ones. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, my kids aren’t extremely interested in crayons, coloring or coloring books [that’s for babies] but when I brought these home from the store, the story suddenly changed.

One of the thing things that haunt me from my childhood are crayon dookies. You know, those little pieces of crayon that flake off and get stuck to every part of your body. It seems that the dookies have returned to haunt my youngest son. I know my youngest is going to be a therapists wet dream when he gets old since he’s displaying some obsessive / compulsive behavior in the dirty hands department. This is something that he’s only just started and I am hoping it’s just a passing phase. His recent ‘clean streak’ was sparked when he was drawing a birthday card for his brother – in the midst of his creation he stood up and started brushing off the crayon clumps only to find that the more he tried to get rid of them the worse the situation got. Sure, that might sound funny, but the little guy was terrified that he’d have to have green, blue and orange smears on him for a few days – not to mention the glitter. Let’s not even go there. So, when I came across the new line of Crayola Twistables I thought that this might just be the thing to get him over his little crayon fear / horror.

Twist It Baby!

Much like the name implies, these are [almost] revolutionary to the crayon world. RoseArt came out with a much cheaper version about a year and a half ago but they broke easily and didn’t have a see through barrel like the Crayola version. Looking like a mechanical lead pencil, these are thinner than standard crayons and about twice as long. Instead of having a paper wrapper over the crayon, it is housed safely inside a twistable plastic holder. When you wear down the end of the crayon – simply twist the barrel to advance a bit more of the crayon. No more haunting down a crayon sharpener or picking up paper wrappers through the night. The clear barrel allows you to see how much coloring power you have left

This set comes with eight colors – all of which are just as vibrant and robust as the originals. For the curious few that may still be awake at this point in the review, here are the colors: yellow, red, green, orange, blue, purple, brown and black. My only beef with this assortment is the color blue – to me it seems a little light to go with the basic colors – maybe they should have added a darker blue – but hey – I just write the reviews.

The plastic storage case is the standard issue Crayola pouch. It will stand up to a good bit of use, but if you have tiny toy goons in your house, chances are this will be ripped to shreds in less than two weeks. If you find yourself pouchless, you might want to try some of the new Rubbermaid Stack ‘N Store keepers. They are the perfect size to store these and will help keep them from getting stepped on or mangled.

The Basics

I was curious to see if these handled like the original Crayola crayons so I sat down with some printer paper and started to doodle. From the first few lines I was amazed at how easy these were to use. You don’t need to use much pressure to get the color to show nor do you need to worry about the amount of pressure you are putting on the barrel. These things are not indestructible so please don’t get the wrong impression. They will crack if you go crazy with them, but when compared to the old school crayons, they are about 35% more sturdy.

I let the boys try these out and they all gave them a huge “thumbs up” rating. Coming from kids that aren’t into coloring or drawing, that is a huge compliment. I gave them poster board, printer paper, newsprint and official Crayola coloring sheets to play around with and with the exception of the poster board, all the different types of paper worked out great. The poster board was my mistake; I should have told the boys that there were two different sides – one shiny and one plain. When they tried to color on the shiny side, the colors wouldn’t adhere and it made a royal mess.

The only complaint that they had was that it took a little time to get used to holding the Twistable, it’s thinner and longer than a standard crayon and feels a lot like you are writing with a pencil or think line marker. If you decide to try these out with your child, let them play around with them and get the feel of them.

The final product looked almost exactly like the doodles make with the old Crayola crayons I had laying around. One extremely nice feature is that the tip is thinner which allows for more detail when drawing. But with all the good, there eventually comes ‘the bad’. Since this is thin, it won’t fit into standard crayon sharpeners – oh it will fit, but you won’t be able to sharpen it. This creates a problem if you want and extremely fine line. I came up with two solutions; either rub out the edges on a spare piece of paper to create a fine point or shop around for cheap eyeliner sharpeners. The ones that have two different sizes work best and I picked up one for .97 cents at Wal-Mart.

For those with large families, teachers or day care providers – Crayola offers these in a ‘super sized’ lot. For about $16.00 you can get six packs of Twistables - each in their own plastic carrying case. This would also be great if you are planning a party or children event and want something cool for the kids to play with. You can order these bulk packs from the Crayola website or pick them up at an office supply store such as Staples or Office Depot.

The Bottom Line

My son seems to be getting over his crayon fear, but it’s too early to tell if this will be a huge hit with him. At first he didn’t want to try them out but when he saw all the fun his brothers were having, he warmed up to them a little. He’s gone back to them a few times but hasn’t started doing cartwheels around the house about them as of yet. For me, I like them a little more than regular crayons but do admit that they do take a little getting used to.

These would be great for kids that have some crayon experience and have out grown the chunky style crayons. As will almost all Crayola products, these are non-toxic so you needn’t worry if they turn into a snack for a child. This is also great for kids that have allergies to some types of colors and dyes. While it might not completely eliminate a break out, it will help keep a majority of the crayon away from the skin.

While these aren’t the cheapest crayons on the market, they are certainly worth it for the ability to create fine lines as well as the portability. Regular crayons usually find their way to the bottom of knap sacks, broken into tiny little pieces. Granted, these aren’t made of an indestructible material, they will fair much better if they are tossed around in a backpack or pencil case. I found these are Target for $2.69, which might sound steep for an 8 pack of crayons, but you get a lot of action from each one.

While I doubt that this will completely replace the old school, paper wrapped crayons, it is a nice step in the right direction for older kids that still like to draw but don’t want to use ‘kiddie crayons’. So if you have kids that like to color or consider themselves budding artists you might want to check out the Crayola Twistables - kids tested, Freak approved :]

As always, thanks for the read :]

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2004 Freak369



Other Crayola product reviews …

• Big MiniStampers • Doodle Pad • Watercolor Pencils • Art & Craft Brushes – 8 Count • Create-A-Kid • Collecting Keepsakes • Halloween Treat Pack • Halloween Boo Bucket • Washable Water Colors – 8 Color • Pencil Pouch • Crayola Crayons – 24 Count • Metallic Crayons • Superfine Markers – 5 Count • Gel FX Washable Markers • Tub of Fun • Crayola Sketch Pad • Point Tip Scissors • Sidewalk Chalk – Chicks & Eggs • Art & Craft Brushes – 4 Count • Twistables – 16 Count • Stack-N-Store Art Tower • Washable Water Colors – 24 Color • Sidewalk Chalk – Animal Assortment • Crayola Lap Desk • Click ‘Em On Washable Markers • Washable Markers – 16 Count • Alphabet & Number Pad • Blunt Tip Scissors • Spinning Desk Top Organizer • Crayola Online Store •


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $2.69
Type of Toy: Arts and Crafts
Age Range of Child: Whole Family