Common Sense Note
There's something for the whole family at this site, from the youngest scribblers to the most skilled designers. One problem with a site this large is that it tries to do too many things at the same time. It's a little too easy to get off the kid's area and into the parents' and educators' sections. That's not a problem, content-wise, but kids will definitely like their area best. Crayola also owns the domain CrayolaKids.com--they might think about spinning that site off on its own.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jean Armour Polly
According to the Crayola site, every year U.S. kids spend 6.3 million hours coloring. Crayola wants to encourage kids to spend even more time in this offline activity. Their website gives families lots of ideas and opportunities to spend time together both online and offline. It includes a large searchable database of projects, lesson plans for educators, and of course, engaging games for everyone!
The whole family will enjoy playing with the "Fireworks Spectacular" tool. Select from a palette of fireworks and arrange them on an event timeline. Then start the show and watch your pyrotechnic choreography light up the sky! Edit your show until it's just right.
"Match a Zoogle" is the most entertaining Concentration game around! Its zany animations and sounds will make players giggle and want to play again and again.
"Monster Mixer" is a Halloween-themed game where you select the top half of a monster and choose a bottom half. Frankenstein wearing a dress? It could happen!
Some of the games might be a little tricky for the youngest players. For example, in "Rainbow, the Spouting Trout," one child might be assigned to select the correct color while another is tasked with aiming the fish's spout.
Most of the games allow players to print the resulting images, so they can be colored (with Crayola crayons, of course!) There are sixteen games in all, don't miss any!
There's also a huge ditty bag of craft ideas, with clear directions (using Crayola products of course), plus suggested books and videos to go along with each project.
Crayola does encourage users to register (free) to use various features of the site. There is also a Crayola Store where products can be purchased online.
We miss the detailed tour of How a Crayon is Made that used to be on the site. There's a stripped -down version, but it serves mostly as a teaser to attract visitors to the Crayola Factory destination in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Reviewed: 01/06/2004
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