First Crayons????

[aliceinwonderland]

I think DS (14 months)is ready for crayons (or something equivalent that he can sort of draw with??) I ask because he was playing on the floor, and he picked up one of my highlighters (bright orange, but was closed) and a piece of blank paper and started pretending to sort of draw on it...So I think he might be ready.
e.

[SarahK]

I use washable Crayola crayons with my daughter (almost 19 months) and those work really well. I do also have the REALLY chubby Crayola crayons, but invariably she gets some on her clothing and then it's a pain to get the marks out.

[pritchettzoo]

We used the Crayola washables too. I just read Young at Art by Susan Striker (very interesting read!) and she suggests (among other things, but just to keep this to the question at hand) that you remove the paper from crayons so the child isn't limited to using it like a pencil and can rub longways on the paper too.

Another option is these beeswax crayons from places like HearthSong: http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=0&bc=1005&pgc=91&cmvalue=HS|0|Normal%20Search%20Result|P1

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[brittone2]

We have stockmar beeswax crayon blocks and love them. When we first got them I asked DS to smell them because they smell pleasant...like beeswax, and now he has a thing for sniffing ALL crayons which is kind of funny :P

[ett]

We use the large washable crayons from Crayola. I have not had any problems wiping crayon marks off the tables, floors, couches, and chairs in our house.

[new_mommy25]

Where do you get those crayons?

[pritchettzoo]

www.hearthsong.com has them and a google search turned up some other hits.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[holliam]

We are either getting the Lyra or Stockmar block crayons. Does anyone have both? The info I've read online says that Lyra is more vibrant, but I really don't know if I care. Seems like some Waldorf stores carry one, and others the other.

If I could just get my act together and order them...

Holli

[luvtoshop]

We also use the stockmar beeswax crayons. Great for little hands.

[aliceinwonderland]

The fancy ones you describe (I am intrigued now!)

I ask because I am all of a sudden completley inpatient for things to get in when ordering online, plus I hate the shipping charges...I know, pain in the butt I am.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, in any event. If I had not asked here, I would have never known about the other types of crayons...I do not keep enlightened company (except for here, of course ;)

e.

[kozachka]

I've picked up RoseArt jumbo washable non-toxic crayons from Michaels yesterday. They were only $1 for 8 crayons. Although they are not as chubby as the Crayola ones at 25% of the price I can not care less. And at this age DS still can't tell the difference.

[squimp]

For drawing, I've found that it's easier for DD to make marks using a Magna-Doodle or now called doodle pro. And great for travel or car trips.

http://www.fisher-price.com/us/products/product.asp?id=28747

We also use the twist-up crayola crayons ($2.50, and easy to obtain - grocery checkout aisle!), mainly because I got some fat beeswax ones from the specialty toy store ($10) that DD never wants to use. With these I can twist 'em down when we're done, to make sure DD will not be drawing on the walls.

Be prepared to improve your drawing skills - DD rarely wanted to draw for the longest time - she was mostly interested in watching me and guessing what I'm drawing. (Is it a bunny? A frog? Uh, yeah, sure, it's a bunny....;)

[nitaghei]

These are my favorites for DS of the several we've tried:
http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/product/product.asp?sku=7533

They have a nice vibrant color, and are really easy for DS to use. His favorite,too. They are washable. The only down side is that there are only 4 colors. I also got some washable Crayola markers which he likes and some jumbo markers that leave dots. Even though they are washable, they are messier than the crayons I linked to above.

HTH

Nita (fleece is my friend)
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker (at the Rainbow Bridge)

[californiagirl]

Yeah, but the RoseArt ones break if you look at them crosswise. All of ours are missing their points. She still loves them because really what she wants to do is take them in and out of the box, but I hate trying to find the points after they break off. Fortunately she doesn't care yet that they don't color well, either. Not that Crayolas color great, but they're better, and they're way more durable.

[zen_bliss]

i bought several sets of soy crayons at pearl art center which is a big art supply store. PRANG brand in a black box with a panda on the package, and it says dixon ticonderoga company on the back, so i imagine they're widely available. they did not cost more than the crayolas and i'd rather her have these than the petroleum-based wax ones. like a pp, i thought the roseart ones were junk.

if you can swing it, the stockmar ones are wonderful and the colors are stunning. i was intrigued but hesistant to pay that much for them. i am lucky to have gotten the big 26 colors set free from a craigslist mama, and i have to say (and remember that i am extremely thrifty!), they are well worth the investment if you have more than one child. they had heavy use with her two homeschooled boys and will definitely last DD (and probably a sibling if she eventually has one.)

(ETA name of soy crayon company.)

[redhookmom]

We have the Stockmar sticks and blocks. They are lovely crayons. The sticks break easily, so they end up in pieces. A little hard for ME to handle. I would start off with the blocks and wait until later for the sticks.