Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints: No Mess Fingerpainting?

Since my son was old enough to hold a crayon in his hand we have used Crayola Color Wonder products as a way for him to draw and color without the mess. Now that my son is 3-years-old we use regular crayons and paints as well, but still have Crayola Color Wonder products for arts and crafts as an additional medium. When I came across Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints at the store I was intrigued by the product and decided to give it a try. Here is my review, with some perspective from my 3-year-old.

Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints come packaged as six color wonder fingerpaints in a plastic tray along with a 24 page coloring book. The paints in the Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints tray are completely white, but have the corresponding colors outlining them and beneath them so a user can easily tell which color is which.

Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints do not feel like traditional fingerpaints. They are much greasier and thicker. You simple rub your finger across the greasy solid fingerpaints in the Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints set and then spread the greasy mixture on the paper. After a few moments, the colors appear.

Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints are great for a few reasons, and not so great for a few more. One of the most obvious pros of Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints is less mess. You don't have to worry about your child getting paint on his clothes or the carpet when using Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints. There are some surfaces that Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints will show up on so do use some caution when using the product. Another pro of the Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints is that my son loves playing with them. He likes mixing the colors together and watching them magically appear on the paper.

Now for some cons to the Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints. First of all, the thick consistency of the paints make them a little difficult for little hands to use correctly. Because my son cannot see the colors on his fingers he thinks he needs to dig his fingers into the paints and get globs if it. This is not necessary for the Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints to work, but that is hard to explain to a 3 year old. Additionally, Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints take forever to show up on the paper. It is difficult to see where you are putting a color because unlike Color Wonder Markers, that show up almost immediately, it takes several seconds for Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints to eventually show up as colors on the paper.

Overall, Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints are a fun product for toddlers and preschoolers. I have come to the conclusion, however, that Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints should not be used instead of traditional fingerpaints, but rather only in addition to them. Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints are such much different than traditional artistic media, that replacing all art supplies with Color Wonder products just wouldn't be right.