A Review of Crayola's 52 Ct. Sidewalk Chalk With Bucket

In an effort to keep up with our daughter's growing interest in arts and crafts,we've bought a whole slew of arts items. One item we happened to pick along with other things is Crayola Chalk Bucket- Sidewalk 52 Count . One thing that I've found so great about Crayola products is that they do live up their name. We had never bought chalk before for our daughter, so I figured I would go with the best. We paid 4.99 for this chalk, but in return we received a bunch of chalk.

Crayola Chalk Bucket- Sidewalk 52 count

Crayola Chalk Bucket- Sidewalk 52 count comes in a nice sized square plastic container (measuring approximately 8 inches wide and 10 inches long). As soon as I saw the container I thought of a thousand other ways that it could be used when the chalk was all gone. Since our daughter seems to have a hard time keeping things in place, the container could be used to hold little toys, other crayons ( those thin cardboard boxes don't seem to last long around here), or just variety of things. So not only were we getting chalk, but also a neat storage box along with it. The box also comes with a clear plastic top with Crayola written on the top, and a plastic purple handle (for easy carrying). The top is easy to lift off, even for little hands, yet it snaps shut tight.

Out of all the chalks available, this particular box of chalk had the most sticks. With fifty two pieces I figured this may be a bit too many for just one little girl. However, it would save another trip back to the store to buy more. There would also be plenty to go around for all her friends and family. The sticks are shaped just like Crayola crayons. They have the trademark Crayola sign on the sides of each and every one of them. They also have a sharpened end that is pointy just like crayons as well. They are quite thick measuring in at around six inches; definitely thick enough for young hands to grasp.

What amazed me the most about the chalk is not the fact that it came with 52 sticks, but some of the shades of the colors. There are actually only 24 different colors (doubles on the black and white sticks) but Crayola offers light and dark grey, a pretty tan, violet, light purple, dark purple, pink, light pink, red, light red, yellow, lime green, regular green, brown, and the list goes on. For every primary color there is a lighter shade to go along with it.

Once we started playing with the chalk, Haleigh took to it immediately. The chalk slid onto the pavement smoothly and they were extremely easy for her to grasp. This chalk has helped her so much with her drawing. Since we have started using them, she has learned to draw all sorts of things that she never once drew before. From suns to flowers to fences to lakes, our driveway was a brightly colored chalk display. The colors seemed a bit light to me however (even the darker shades) and my daughter is the type that likes to bear down hard on colors. If you want the colors to have a darker shade, simply pour a little on the pavement and then color or draw over it. This method gives even more pretty colors. They are also durable and pretty tough to break. Bearing down hard doesn't make a difference with this chalk. They remain strong and get their job done. I enjoy using the chalk myself, and love the fact that they all have pointed tips. That made it much easier for me to teach Haleigh how to draw different things. One thing we love to do is to get about 5 colors together in one hand and make a rainbow. The pointed tips made this exercise extremely easy and it actually came out looking like a decent rainbow.

There really are not too many negatives about this product, but one thing in particular that may concern parents is that it is not dust proof. The chalk can and will get on hands and clothes. However, I've found that the chalk is not that hard to just dust off. As soon as hands are washed, there are no signs at all of any chalk. 99% of the dust came off clothes as soon as they were washed. There was one outfit in particular that still bears some deep dust stains (no matter how many times it was washed), but I believe it was just that particular outfit that was sensitive to just about anything. Since then Haleigh has usually played in older clothes when with the chalk, but then again she seems to like to get messy no matter what she is doing. There isn't a lot of rain where we live so the drive way and sidewalk fill up with drawings pretty quick (This kid draws all the time, every day, and for hours if someone draws with her). All we have to do is get the water hose and spray off the chalk and within a few minutes it is all gone. Same thing goes for dusty hand prints. A quick swipe with a wet sponge and the dust is gone.

After using the chalk for three months (and this is between friends, cousins, and mommies as well), there is still loads and loads of chalk left. Haleigh went through pieces relatively quickly, but this kid is addicted to this stuff. Like I said, this is the most played with (or colored with) item that she has ever had. However, there are still so many left that it really doesn't matter. We probably will not need another box of chalk until next summer (well then again it seems to stay summer until December here, so we'll see).

Recommended ?

As mentioned, Haleigh absolutely loves sidewalk chalk. She has spent more time with this product than any other toy.. ever . The fact that there are an array of colors to choose, they are thick, they are washable, and they have a handy toting box makes me want to always keep a box of these around. Crayola definitely comes through once again and delivers an almost flawless product that kids and adults alike can enjoy. They are also non toxic which of course is always important for children's products. This product is recommended for ages four and older.