Some thoughts on colored pencils and crayons

To continue with my series on school supply tips, this time we look at colored pencils and crayons.

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Colored pencils have the same issues with gluing, but they also share a common problem with crayons: wax content. Cheap versions of these supplies are typically loaded with extra wax, and contain smaller amounts of pigment. Consequently they give weak, pale colors and sometimes don't even look like the colors they are supposed to be, which is frustrating to many students. For crayons, I usually stick with Crayola. With colored pencils there are several options. Faber-Castell makes a nice colored pencil that is glued all the way down (which solves the breakage issue talked about above) and has nice color. It's a little more expensive, but I would recommend it for older, more responsible students. Crayola colored pencils have nice color, but are very prone to breaking. A couple years ago I bought my daughter a set of colored pencils at Michaels. I'm not even sure of the brand, but I found them in the art supply section, not the kid arts and crafts section. I paid about six dollars for 24 colors, but she has used them for two years now and will be able to use them again next year, so we're now down to $2 a year. Of course, this investment only works when the student is old enough to not lose the items. I have seen some colored pencils put out by Crayola that are twistable and encased in plastic; what I have heard about them has been favorable, but I'm not very familiar with them.

Thank you to http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/12789 for the crayon photo.