"Organic crayons... Sounds great." This is what I thought when I first heard about it.
I love to draw. I am not saying that I am good at it. Just that I love to doodle. So on festivals and birthdays you would see me making cards for my friends and family. Then along came my LO.
She, like kids her age, loves colours and tries to 'help' me while I am colouring or making cards. Since I love arts and crafts, you may think that I feel happy each time my munchkin reached out for the colours. But I did not.
You see, had she been scribbling, I would have been happy. Instead I decided to keep the colours away from my li'l Picasso when I saw it go straight into her mouth!
Water colours, crayons, colour pencils - she seemed to have a healthy appetite for all, much to my dismay.
I really wanted her to play with colours as it is proven to help the child's mental development.
So I was over the moon when I heard of an organic and non-toxic crayon that is made in India!
Organic crayons - what is that?Nowadays you get to hear the term organic quite frequently. There are organic vegetables, fruits and what not. But do you know what it means?
Quite simply put, if a product is organic, it means that it has been manufactured without using any sort of chemicals or artificial preservatives.
So, an organic crayon is made with completely natural ingredients.
About AzafranAzafran Innovacion is an established group in the organic industry, admired for dedication to real ingredients & quality products. From this expertise Azafran's organic crayons was born, which I will be reviewing today. Azafran's Organic Crayons is an initiative by Azafran Innovacion to create a positive earth conscious impact through the art of coloring.
Azafran organic crayons: Review
As I told you earlier, the word organic and the word crayon together made me really happy. It sounds great in theory, but how would it fare? Would it exceed my expectations or would it be just another fad? Find out....
The unboxing and what to expect in a pack of Azafran organic crayonsOnce my LO found out that there was a box of crayons and that too for her, she was thrilled! She was desperate to get her hands on them.
I gave her the box and she was excited to start.
The box looked peppy and like any crayon box. The box is yellow in colour and the pullout tray containing crayons is white in colour. The box is made of a thick, cardstock like material.
The illustration on the box is really cute. It is a row of flowers of different colours, something like what a child would draw.
It contains 8 organic crayons that are square-shaped.
These crayons are said to made from waxes of palm and soya, organic soya butter and food grade colours.
The company says that the square shape will help to improve the hand-eye coordination. It also says that kids can play with it by stacking it up.
It is also said to be a 100% organic, eco-friendly, non-toxic, waterproof, non-sticky, non-greasy and contains no animal derivatives.
The shelf life of this product is 36 months from the date of manufacture.
Ingredients:Organic waxes of palm and soya, organic soya butter and food grade colours.
That's it. Finally a list of ingredients that don't feature any complicated ingredient names!
Unleasing my child's creative side with Azafran organic crayons
Now that I have told you all about how it looks, let us move to the next part.
When she saw the crayons for the first time, she wanted to play. She set out to stack them and play with it. She wasn't quite convinced that those weren't building blocks.
But after she saw me drawing, she followed suit.
These crayons are a bit waxy to touch. It has a faint fragrance, I am guessing one of the ingredients is what imparts that. This is because there is no added fragrance.
The crayons glide on paper and are quite easy to handle. After coloring, you will find a lot of flakes, which is expected as it is a natural product.
What I wasn't too happy about, was the fact that the crayons tend to rub off on each other. For instance, the yellow crayon ends up being the dirty fellow quite often. But I found a way around that - just give it a good rub.
As usual my daughter wasn't just happy colouring on paper, she did try some on the floor too. But fret not, it wipes of easily with a wet cloth.
I went the extra mile and tried this on clothes and my wall too (living life dangerously. lol)
It came off from the clothes.(Yeay) But, it left a bit of colour on the wall, a tiny bit only though. In the crayon's defense, the wall wasn't painted with a washable paint.
Note: Since it is a natural product with no added chemicals, do store in cool and dry place.
Pros:- Organic
- Non-toxic
- Easy to grasp
- Stackable - making it a multi-tasker
- Affordably priced (compared to other organic crayons)
- Kids can color without applying too much pressure
- No animal derivatives
- Slightly greasy
- Limited number of colors available- only 8 colors are available
- Only available in one shape
- Availability (available online only at amazon.in)
Will I recommend the Azafran organic crayons?
Yes, if your budding artist has a tendency to nibble on everything. (I am not saying that it is ok to treat this as a snack though).
We use so many products that are loaded to the brim with chemicals. Some we can do with, and some we can do without.
So why not go green when there is a great non-toxic product that matches up to the ones with chemicals?
And, it makes a great gift too!
Where to buy:This cute box is available online at Amazon.
Final score:The Azafran organic crayon gets a big 4 out of 5 from me. A set with more colours and regular shape for older kids would be a great idea.
Have you used the Azafran organic crayon? Or any organic crayons? How has your experience been?