Crayola Explosion

** This is not a sponsored post **

I feel like kids watch too much television these days, and sometimes I feel like it's a necessary evil. I try not to use television to buy me time to do things all the time, and today I opted for painting time in the kids' toy room. Bobble and Squiggle had begged all morning, and they even cleaned up their room so they could paint in there. The floor is a hard floor, so it works fairly well. No carpet to worry about messing up.

I needed just a little bit of time. The tiniest bit of time. Two cartoons would have done it (about 30-40 minutes), or part of a movie, even. Still, they want to paint. I want to let them do stuff away from the television. I allow it. I grab the Crayola Washable Kids' Paint, the paintbrushes, and some paper. They sit down quietly and start to paint.

Now, I'd like to point out that in the recent past, painting has gone quite well with them.

They focus quite well on the task at hand, even when the wind is trying to blow away their pictures (which is why there are rocks on the corners). The paints above are Crayola Washable Kids' Paint (paint pots), and though they don't hold much paint (which was bad for Squiggle since she scoops globs of paint out versus dipping and painting like Bobble), they worked nicely while they lasted. This gave me hope that this painting time would go well.

Their play room is directly above my head as I am washing and chopping potatoes, carrots, and celery. (Well, I peeled the carrots, too.) I hear them chatting as they paint. I hear excited foot steps from time to time, and I imagine them running over for a new sheet of paper from the pile. I wonder how bad the mess will be when I go up there, but still. Creative time. Cooking time. It was working.

... until I realized it wasn't. Bobble comes down the stairs and says that they started painting with their feet. I look at him, pause for a second, and then tell him, "Okay... I want you to go back upstairs until you are done painting, then call for me." I cringed a bit as he ran back up the (carpeted) stairs.

They decide they are done and they come downstairs, bringing with them containers of empty paint. Containers that were full when they started. I guessed that Squiggle glopped paint onto her paper since she doesn't dip her brush so much as scoop with her brush. I directed them towards the bathroom and asked them to clean up.

Then I go upstairs.

I stare blankly at the disaster, come downstairs, grab my phone, and record the explosion of colour in video and colour.

It was at this moment that I noticed the slogan on the (now empty) box of paint: Washability You Can Trust!

I sure hope so, Crayola. I sure hope so.

I grab dirty towels, a garbage bag, and a bottle of vinegar, then head back upstairs. I noticed the cup of water they were cleaning their brushes off with, and decided to utilize that water. This is water-soluble paint, right? It worked well, and I started pouring the water all over the dried paint that decorated our floor.

Pushing the towels across the floor, you could see the paint that it loosened just pushing away with the excess water that wasn't getting absorbed.

It didn't really make me scrub hard or anything, just wiping enough to make my arms tired after the millionth minute. I didn't need to use the vinegar at all.

It washed off the floor easily. It washed off the walls easily. It washed off the kids easily.

...but what about the laundry!? Her cute dress, the towels used to clean the mess... they are really testing Crayola's claim!

The open(ish) towel is a light blue normally, the wadded towel on the bottom is a medium-light brown. I used more towels than this, but this was just a sampling.

I washed them with our regular laundry detergent (some random store brand of free & clear detergent), dried them, and here they are:

I didn't take a picture of any of these towels open because I can't tell which ones I used for cleanup! I know the brown on top was used and the bright blue below it was used because those are the only two that colour in the load. I don't know which of the lighter blue (on the right) were used. The wipes in the picture were not used in cleanup, but are now stained.

Much cleaner than it was, but visibly stained.

Bottom half of the dress

Bottom section of dress on the back/side of dress

As far as the claim on washability, I'm split. The floor (walls, desk, table...) were a surprisingly easy clean. It gave me faith that the laundry stood a fighting chance... and the towels came out great. I can't tell which ones I used. The wipes that happened to be in the load with them (that weren't used on any paint) are very stained (they were white), and the dress is much cleaner, but it's not clean. The dress is definitely a crafting dress now, sadly. The confusing part of that (to me) is that the dress and towels are both cotton, and the wipes were cotton, hemp, and bamboo. If it washed out of the cotton towels, why didn't it wash out of the cotton dress?

I do need to thank you, Crayola, for living up to your claim in ease of clean up. I just wish it washed out of the clothing, too!

Over all, I'd recommend the products. They washed off the surfaces and children very easily. I would just recommend using old clothing that you don't care about while they paint (unless your kids will actually keep a smock on... mine won't!), or buy plain white clothes for craft time so they slowly become "artistic" looking clothes. My kids love tie dye, so I'm sure they'd love "painted" clothing. I just wish it wasn't this cute little dress that had to be the casualty!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. Crayola did not sponsor this post in any way. All products mentioned above were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.