It’s a colourful life! These plant-based crayons are loved by young artists

The kids are busy at work with the new crayons

We grew up on the good ol' Camlin wax crayons - a box of basic 12 shades that brought us joy. If you were privileged, you'd get a box with 24 shades with the bonus ‘skin' shade in it. Sketch pens were only for bordering. And still, the art class in school was our favourite. It opened our hearts to imagine and create. That's the power of art. These days, art kits include a plethora of colours - oil pastels, crayons, colour pencils, glitter shades, sketch pens and what not. So when we came across Azafran's plant-based crayons, we thought it to be a marketing gimmick. The back of the package had a long check list that read - clinically tested, baby-safe, hypoallergenic; non-toxic, plant-based ingredients; food grade and baby-safe colour pigments; no parabens, sulphates, mineral oils or artificial fragrance. But would it pass the childrens' test?

We tried out three of their products. The organic block crayons (a rainbow of 16 colours packed in a slider box at R499) looked like colourful marzipans one may quickly pop in their mouths, except that they are made of coconut oil, soy wax, organic palm, food grade colours and do not smell inviting. They do glide on the paper like knife through butter though.

The package of organic pencil crayons; (right) A unicorn coloured by the kids

Block crayons are believed to be easier for younger children to hold and less likely to break - which is why they are used in Waldorf or Steiner schools. But most young minds are conditioned to use pencils because they help to develop a triangular grasp linked directly to brain development. This writer's kids found it challenging to use the block crayons, especially when filling in the corners; one must be careful to stay inside the line.

We also checked out the organic pencil crayons (15 colours for Rs 499). If you didn't know that these were eco-conscious crayons, you'd miss the point. But what won our hearts were the organic glitter crayons (eight colours for Rs 599). They look like regular block crayons, but even when we used them, they had no glitter. The ones that leave a trace on your books can be annoying and we were glad these didn't. Then, how was it glitter? Only when we finished colouring the unicorn and blended in the shades did we notice the metallic effect it gave off. That led us to try it on the Rasengan - Naruto's spirit bomb.

While the price point seems to be on the higher side, for those who are invested in the art and the planet, it's worth it.

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