Too excited when the postman delivered this! Another awesome product I discovered in Toy Fair 2014, the Crayola Marker Maker allows children (and adults if you are like me haha) to experiment with colours and make their own markers. Perfect for those who shows interest in Alchemy!
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| Left: How it came in the box Right: Marker Maker as Storage |
The Crayola Marker Maker (rrp £22.99, suitable for 6 years+) can be transformed into a storage, with space for the 3 bottles of ink (red, yellow, blue), marker barrels, cores, tips, caps and plugs (there are enough to make 16 markers), and 2 test tubes. There is also a tray at the bottom of the storage to keep the extra materials that won't fit in the storage and marker labels, and a tray on the side that can be removed, revealing the tweezers and 2 slots that secures the test tubes. The maker also comes with an instruction sheet, 2 marker boxes (each holds 8 markers) that can be coloured in, and a colour recipe card to help children get started.
Crayola also sell a refill pack (rrp £9.99) that comes with enough materials to make 12 markers (including stickers), 3 bottles of ink (red, yellow and blue), 2 card boxes (each holds 6 markers) and a colour recipe card.
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| 1. Place tip inside barrel 2. Turn step 1 upside down and place in the middle of the maker 3. Add one colour to the right level 4. Add the second colour and fill it to line 15 5-8: Dip a core into the test tube until it has fully absorbed the ink 9-12: Place the ink soaked core into step 2, and press the lever down (it should click twice and the plug should be completely embedded into the barrel 13-15: Stand the marker in one of the slots on the side until the tip has fully absorbed the ink 16: Have fun testing the result! |
The idea of making a quality marker is fun and I had to try it before Abby came home from school! We all agreed that mixing the colour, watching it being absorbed by the core and revealing what colour we made was really fun, and the experimenting process is really addictive! Even Clay loves playing with the kit, and because he knew he wasn't allowed to play with the kit on his own, he would often sneak the Marker Maker to a corner and experiment himself! Luckily no major accidents (spillage!) has happened yet, but it was definitely materials wasted.
I think it would be ideal if we have something to change the colour to a lighter or darker one, and if they can make the bottles slightly more squeezy, it would be easier for the less patient ones to create their markers. Although Abby gets tired from squeezing the bottles (she could have just let it drip but she's too impatient), she really likes making her own markers, and even name them with creative names!
The markers were of really good quality, and writes really well. With the recipe colour chart, children can have unlimited amount of their favourite colours, or see what difference a 1mm change of colour will cause. I highly recommend Crayola Marker Maker for those who loves to experiment with colours and make things themselves. I wish I took Chemistry when I was younger!