Numerous times in the past, I have admitted to being a Crayola snob. As a teacher, I would specify that students should buy Crayola crayons, markers, and colored pencils. To me, it was worth the extra money up front if they lasted longer, worked better and were high quality. This Mommy also has lots of Crayola products at home for the boys.

When I was asked by MyBlogSpark and Crayola to test out some of their new items for the Crayola Holiday Gifts Spark, I jumped at the chance. One day, we came home to a rather large package sitting on our front steps. When we went inside, it was like an early Chanukah for the boys. Here are NHL (6) and JSL (2) with their new Crayola items.

Crayola Beginnings Color Me A Song:

The Crayola Beginnings Color Me A Song lets little ones draw to the beat of their own drum, trumpet, piano or guitar. This portable drawing and music creation station features a pressure-sensitive board that matches a melody to the artist’s pace. Draw fast, and the tempo picks up. Slow down, and so does the music. Four instrument buttons let kids pick their favorite sound. Color Me a Song was named a “Toy of the Year” by FamilyFun magazine and one of American Baby magazine’s picks for “Best Toys of the Year.” For children 24 months and up; suggested retail price is $24.99.

As soon as my 2 year old son, JSL, saw the package he knew that this was for him. He refused to eat lunch and wanted to get into his seat to test out his new "Doodle" as he called it. 

The little guy quickly figured out that pushing the crayons across the top altered the way the music was playing. He liked going in and out of the little drawer to put his "colors" away and get new ones. Here is the little playing. Note that he is so involved he will not reply to me.

What I liked as a parent was that everything was self contained within the unit for quick clean up. We could easily put new crayons inside, paper clipped onto the outside and we were good to go. Another nice touch were the triangular washable crayons that were included. These are fabulous for little fingers that are learning to properly grasp crayons and other writing utensils.

Crayola Glow Station:

The Crayola Glow Station illuminates children’s imaginations through the magic of drawing with light on a large-size glow-in-the-dark canvas. Using a light wand, children can either draw freehand or use stencils and texture sheets to create more realistic drawings. A diamond-shaped tip can be snapped on the end of the light wand for stamping unique starburst designs on the canvas. Drawings magically disappear over time, or can be “erased” by turning on the lights, so kids can create again and again for limitless fun. For children ages six and up; suggested retail price is $29.99.

NHL (6) was very excited to try this toy out. He is fascinated with items that glow. It was still daylight when he tried this for the first time. Even in the day, NHL was able to experiment quite a bit. 

NHL  liked using the stencils that came with it, the pen to make stars and just writing/drawing various things.

As a parent, I liked that there is a large space for NHL to be creative on. He can practice his writing, math problems (he’s obsessed with this) and loves the fact that they glow. The Glow Station has knobs on the bottom to hang up the stencils that come with it, so it helps with storage. We hope to find a way to secure the Glow Station on the back of NHL’s bedroom door. This will be fun at night to practice spelling word writing while glowing in the dark room.

Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome:

The Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome is sure to bring wide-eyed wonder to kids’ faces when the lights go out and they watch their artwork glow and spin on a moving, two-layered dome of light. Kids control the “glow-motion” fun and can dial up slow, medium or warp speed to create a wild, animated scene. For ages six and up; suggested retail price is $29.99.

NHL was really nice, he shared the Color Explosion Glow Dome with me. While he was off using something else, I set this up. I decided to draw an underwater picture and then called the boys over to see what I had created. When NHL arrived he asked to add some items onto the dome. He put some things on and we turned it on to see how it worked together. Here it is in the daylight:

Later on at night, I wanted to check it out with darker conditions. Here is a clip to see the difference:

This is a great creative toy. Lots of fun and endless possibilities. My only concern is buying replacement markers to use with it. I still have to research that a little more since I am not sure if we can use other Crayola markers or not. NHL and I both liked using this together and I can even see JSL joining the fun.

If you head to any store these Crayola holiday gifts and many others are lining the shelves at retailers. Crayola is also running a Give the Gift of Creativity Sweepstakes, where you can enter to win a 7-night Caribbean cruise fr a family of 4 on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. Entering this is easy. All you have to do is visit http://www.crayola.com/gifts/vacation and create a Crayola wish list for your child. You can choose from a list of fun wishes like Star Skateboarding, Martian Sleepovers, and Boogie Woogie. Crayola will then recommend an item from their Holiday Gift Guide that corresponds to the wish. You can enter once a day, and an extra entry is also available for those who share the wish list on Facebook.

 Giveaway:

Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Crayola, one lucky reader will be able to receive their very own Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome. 

Rules for Giveaway:

• MAIN RULE – Answer the following question: What item you would select from the Give the Gift of Creativity Sweepstakes wish list
• 1 Bonus Entry – Follow me on Twitter @TheAngelForever and Tweet about the giveaway. Be sure to include @TheAngelForever and Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome giveaway. Please leave a direct link to your Tweet in a separate comment for each daily entry. Example Tweet (feel free to use):  Win a Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome from @TheAngelForever   http://bit.ly/5n2kf2
• 1 Bonus Entry – What is your favorite Crayola product?
  
• 1 Bonus Entry – Enter one of my other current giveaways. Be sure to leave a comment here telling me what you entered.
• 1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
• 1 Bonus Entry – Who will be receiving the Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome if you win and what do you think they will draw on it?
• 1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the month of November/December. Be sure to leave a comment here to let me know which one.
• 3 Bonus Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog about the Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome giveaway. Be sure to leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today November 29th and ends at 10:59 EST December 8, 2009. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only. 

Disclosure:  This post was written as part of a program for MyBlogSpark and Crayola. Crayola provided me with the free Beginnings Color Me a Song, Color Explosion Dome, and Glow Station. They are also providing the Color Explosion Glow Dome for the giveaway through MyBlogSpark. No other compensations was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own feelings about products reviewed.