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View Full Version : 2 yrs olds, travelling, crayon vs pencil



vonfirmath
07-22-2009, 04:15 PM
In September, my son will be barely 2 years old when we take a plane ride and then a 9-(driving) hr car ride to our final destination.

Should I be looking at taking colored pencils with us instead of crayons? Can he handle them? (he uses the thick, triangular crayons)

Piglet
07-22-2009, 04:32 PM
We brought along the triangle crayons for DD when we flew recently. She is such a stinker though - she threw all of them over her tray, then as DH ducked down to pick them all up, she used the remaining one left in her hand to colour the entire wall of the airplane (in under 30 seconds). The FA was not impressed, but fortunately she gave me a wet wipe and all the crayon washed off. DH attempted to wash it off with an ice cube but that didn't work. The moral of the story - don't bring a lot of crayons, but if they do end up on the walls, they wash off. I think pencils are too hard to use at that age.

jerigirl
07-22-2009, 05:08 PM
I don't let DS bring crayons in the car because I am afraid that if one is left in there it will melt in the 100+ degree days that we have. We have the Alex set of "Chubby Colored Pencils" http://www.alextoys.com/product/284N
and love them. They are about the length of a regular pencil though, so I am not sure if they would be too long for your DS to handle. They last forever. I think we have only sharpened them twice in the year or so we have owned them.

ett
07-22-2009, 07:45 PM
I would definitely stick with crayons. (and washable too) I think just turned 2 is too young for color pencils.

jgenie
07-22-2009, 07:49 PM
We took a travel sized Magna Doodle when I flew w/ my 18 mo son. The pen is attached so I didn't have to worry about chasing it down. We bought ours at Target.

sail731
07-22-2009, 09:47 PM
We are planning to use Crayola Wondermarker sets. Only marks on the paper specific to the markers.

kristac
07-22-2009, 11:02 PM
Second the magna doodle idea. It holds my 2 year olds attention much longer then crayons and paper at this point and no mess.

GraceH
07-23-2009, 12:13 AM
when you do decide, I would look into Crayola Twistables or a similar item so that you don't have to worry about sharpening or cracking... plus, they are easy to use and have a neat pouch to keep them in

traciann
07-23-2009, 12:51 AM
I think either would be fine. They do make Pipsqueaks colored pencils, which are fatter than the regular kind. dc might have a better grip with those.

vonfirmath
07-23-2009, 09:35 AM
We took a travel sized Magna Doodle when I flew w/ my 18 mo son. The pen is attached so I didn't have to worry about chasing it down. We bought ours at Target.


I saw those but thought that I had to wait cause they say 3+. I'll take another look.

HIU8
07-23-2009, 12:52 PM
DD has one and loves it. She has the one for 18 months plus. She also plays with DS's which is for 3 yrs plus (the shapes are not as chunky etc...). DD, who is 2, uses pencils, thick and thin crayons and the colorwonder markers and paints. She loves to draw and will use whatever is available. We are flying next week and I am bringing a host of different items to use to draw. the only thing we don't have are colored pencils yet. I did learn one lesson. DD can only do colorwonder when on the floor or carpet. I have a nice crayon mark on my carpet from her that refuses to come up. My mother will love it when she draws on her carpet next week......

new_mommy25
07-23-2009, 02:18 PM
Just a warning about crayons: My friend left some in a car seat one day and they melted and ruined her Roundabout cover. She was unable to get it off and ended up having to buy a new cover. So be careful while in the car!

I like to buy triangular crayons or Ferby colored pencils. The Ferbys are really nice and easy to grip and the colors are rich. I also second the Magnadoodle or travel Aquadoodle recs. :)

jgenie
07-23-2009, 09:22 PM
I saw those but thought that I had to wait cause they say 3+. I'll take another look.

I figured since he would be supervised the whole time we would be fine. He mainly chewed on the pencil, but I drew pics and he enjoyed that. GL

kristac
07-24-2009, 08:25 AM
I saw those but thought that I had to wait cause they say 3+. I'll take another look.

This is the one we have:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-G2812-Little-People-Doodle/dp/B0002D0FDM/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1248438133&sr=8-35
The shapes are chunky enough not to be choking hazards. You should be able to find one similar at Target or just take any tiny shapes away for now. He can still use the pen.

MamaKath
07-24-2009, 11:29 PM
I would go with chunky pencils. We have had way too many crayons melt after falling in the car. They don't ever come out!!!!

Faber Castell makes triangular jumbo/chunky pencils.
http://www.faber-castell.de/24174/Children-s-colour-pencils/Triangular-Jumbo/index_news.aspx

Crayola makes twistable pencils and also Write Start colored pencils (chunky).
http://www.crayola.com/products/list.cfm?categories=PENCILS

The other thing you could look at would be color wonder products. They only write on special paper, so are perfect for cars and planes!
http://www.crayola.com/products/splash/color_wonder/index.cfm?n_id=56

Magnadoodles are also great!!!!

MommyAllison
07-27-2009, 03:39 PM
Thank you all for the melted crayon warnings! Our rental car company would probably not care for melted crayon on the upholstery. :) We'll stick to colored pencils or ColorWonder markers in the car.