Crayola Color Wonder Disney Fairies Pad & Markers

Sophie and Juliette both love messy play. OK, I'll admit it - even I love messy play !! After a happy half hour watching Mister Maker on Cbeebies together, I'll quite often join in with the painting-sticking -colouring-cutting frenzy of creative play. I'm quite happy for the girls to get totally filthy and covered from head to toe in glue, paint and glitter in the name of developing creativity and I even encourage them to do so. (I even had to come clean and admit that when the finger-painting progressed on to foot painting, that was my idea so Daddy couldn't tell them off !!)

But there are some times when you just wish messy play could be a bit less messy. Juliette loves colouring but is sometimes a bit over-enthusiastic, so whatever she's leaning on - clean tablecloth, the floor, arm of the cream-coloured armchair ... - often inadvertently gets coloured-in too. Not to mention the fact that she always covers her fingers in felt tip, then touches her face, her clothes, the walls, the fridge door, basically EVERYTHING within reach, leaving multicoloured fingerprints everywhere. And whatever the manufacturers say, most felt tip pens are NOT washable !!

Well, that's where Color Wonder comes in. It's an absolutely ingenious invention that definitely must have been created by a mum - or at least a dad who does the laundry ! The special pens will only work on Color Wonder paper. On anything else - clothes, fingers, the walls, furniture - it's just like invisible ink ! So even tiny tots (it's recommended from age 3 upwards) can colour away to their heart's content without leaving any felt-tip marks anywhere ! It's absolutely fantastic for me, when I have to feed or change baby Pierre and I can't keep a close eye on what the girls are getting up to. I know that there is absolutely no danger of coming back to a multi-coloured disaster that necessitates a mild panic attack and some power cleaning !

The paper is quite pricey but it's worth it for the peace of mind. I won't use it all the time but it's great for in the car, while visiting other people or when you need to leave young children colouring in without supervision for a while.

The girls tested the Disney Fairies Pad but other designs are available (including Disney Princesses and Cars) or plain paper pads.

star rating : 5/5