Arts and Crafts Reviews

My daughter received this as a gift. She LOVED creating her story. We had lots of fun together with the planning and the layout and she really enjoyed being able to express her creativity so freely. When the final product, a hardbound copy of her story arrived, she was so excited. Now we read her story often and it is so neat to know that the words and illustrations are her own. We also bought this as a gift for my friend's son (his sixth birthday) and he loved it as well. My daughter recently asked me if we could get another kit so she can make another story. I definitely will get this for her again. It is a wonderful gift and also a great keepsake for years to come.

This is one of the greatest gifts my 5 year old daughter ever received. It kept her occupied for hours, not to mention the days when she likes to go back and read it. It was so interesting, that my 7 year old nephew helped her create the book. They drew a line down the middle of each page so they each had a side. Then they just created their masterpiece-no arguing-just sharing and imagining together. I now give this as a gift to anyone around the ages of 5-7 years.

As a teacher, I had to buy this gift for my seven-year-old niece. She loved making her own book, and the finished product that they send you is very professional looking, like a book that you would purchase from a store. They even included some tips and activities to help children write their stories, including diagrams for pre-planning and brainstorming. My niece loves her book and shows it off to everyone - she even took it to school and got to read it at storytime. This is a great educational activity that really gets children to be creative, and they love it. Buy it for all of your favorite kids!

My daughter, who's now 8 and I have made these using her hand print for every Grandma, Grandpa, aunt, uncle and of course, Mom and Dad, too. They are great gifts. Inexpensive, but priceless to those lucky enough to get them. My Daughter with the help of my Mom made one for me for Christmas one year. I can't tell you how much I LOVE my stepping stone with her little handprint in it. You can also take a toothpick or something and write the child's name, "I love you" or whatever to make it even more personal. None of the stones we've made have broken either and by last count, we've made 8. Oh, one other thing that we tried with the last two we made was painting them with some outdoor paint and that turned out real cute too. Give these as gifts and you can't go wrong!

I have used this with my 3 year old on 3 separate occasions and she absolutely loves it! It takes a lot of parental involvement and help with the actual mixing process (adding the ingredients), but she was able to stir it herself and LOVED putting the stones in. I supplemented with marbles, floral stones, and some stones specific to mosaics that I found at a craft store. All in all - a wonderful project that provides years of creative options and play, as well as great parental involvement. I gave a high educational value since creativity is one of the key foundations of education for preschoolers.

My housemates and I had fun making tiles for our garden! This kit is great. So is the other Mosaic Tile one. I know it's for kids, but it really adds something special to my little garden!

We bought this for our daughter for her third birthday. She will be five in a month and she is just as thrilled with the desk as she was when we first bought it. The desk is sturdy and very durable, as is the chair. One of the best features of the desk is that it is so easy to clean. And there is so much storage space for all of her art supplies. I do agree that the light could be a bit brighter, but with an overhead light on you really don't even need it.

This is definitely one of the best things that we have ever bought her and even thought it will be two years that she has had it, it doesn't seem that she will be outgrowing it anytime soon. She has grown so much in the past two years and still there is plenty of leg room for her.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a desk for their child. You can't go wrong with this desk.

My daughter got this for her second birthday. It was fairly easy to put together. Lots of storage space. Everything is proportioned right for a smaller child to use. My daughter has spent hours playing with it. The side bins are wonderfull for keeping tablets of paper and the nook under the desk top is a great place to keep coloring books. I have to agree that the light could be better. This is one of few toys that is fun and has a great kid freindly design. It will also be something that she will still use for years to come!!!!

This was purchased for my 3yo daughter. She loves it...so does her brother. They both have used this desk for over a year now, and it is still in new condition. If they draw on the desk or chair, it can easily be cleaned off. There is a lot of storage room for paper, coloring books, crayons, etc. They also love being able to turn the little desk light on by themselves. This is a great desk and well worth the money.

Although the age range is for 5 and up, I actually bought this for my 2-year old after she played with it at the home a friend's daughter, aged 6. (There are certainly many small pieces, but we only play this together -- i.e. she is never unsupervised). My 4-year son also plays with this quite a bit.

I find that this set is a very good value in comparison to the larger Ello sets -- you get fewer pieces in this set (especially the larger "plates") but you still get enough to make four people, and good selection of assorted pieces to put together a wide variety shapes and scenarios.

With a little help here and there, my 2-year old daughter is quite able to put most of the components of an Ello person together herself. (However, we've had Lego around since she was born, and for her age she's unusually good at building with those as well. If you're considering Ello for a younger child, your mileage may vary).

And I'm quite impressed with the durability, in that the sticks that you use to string the people together do not seem to break -- my daughter's inadvertently bent several of them virtually at a right-angle, and they're still intact. Again, though, I recognize that this is not designed for her age group, so the fact that she can still use it is a big plus.

Basically, this is very good starter set, especially in comparison to the larger set which is double the price but (I seem to recall) not quite double the pieces. This starter set doesn't have the reusable stickers, but we haven't really had need for them.

Overall, I'd say this is a good way to give the Ello line a "trial run" if you're unsure of whether your kid will like it. But based on the play value my kids have had so far, I think it's a keeper at our home.

My seven year old sister just got this set for christmas and my whole family has been playing with it! It's so fun how you can create anything including jewlery. We can't wait to get the bigger set.

My 10 yr. old daughter loves these! Keeps her brain & hands busy making creative little works of art.

we're late 20's and have a set that comes out sometime during most dinner parties! A few glasses of wine and its amazing how rough the battle for the crown can get. BEWARE though the crown is flimsy- we broke ours and had to replace it with a rhinestone model from claire's

this is definitly the best game ever!! im 15 and me and my friends still totally love this game! and when i babysitt the kids play it all the time, the little girl and even the boys (who are 8 and 11) this is so much fun to play... everyone gets to put on the pretty jewlry and have fun! I THINK THIS IS THE BEST GAME FOR ANYONE AGES 4-120!!!

I bought this for my 4 year old daughter. She loves it. She's even gotten Daddy and Grandpa to dress-up :) Very cute game!!!

I was 8 when we bought my little sister this. It was her 5th birthday and i remembered she wanted an ello set very badly. I picked this one because it has a lot of blue in it, my sisters favorite color. When she opened it, she was really surprised but so happy. Later she and i played with it and it was very fun! We made 2 mermaid sisters that lived in a big underwater house. Now i'm 9 and I'm gonna be 10 this year. I like the fairy and ello opolis set. Somtimes i see my sister sitting in the living room with her ello box. I see all the peices spilled out and she's playing with them and putting them together. Her favorite part about it curently is making fish for the set. She puts the sticks on them to surrond a house with a little table and chairs set she made. She can't put together the mermaids though, only rarely so i have to help her with that. But she still really likes it. She is turning 6 this year and i saw the new jungle ello set. That's what I'm gonna get her. But this is a great toy! It's totaly cool and fun because my sister and i each like different catagories. I like arts and carfts and my sister likes to build so she likes it. It's really nice so i think that you should buy it.

My daughter, age 5, begged me for Ello because her friend got it for a birthday gift. I was skeptical because she doesn't usually like lego type toys. Now that we have it, we love it. Since she's so young she requires assistance, but its fun for me too. We both create characters and rooms for them to play in. There's lots that she can do without me too - stickers and fantasy play once some pieces are put together. We both like the colors and the wierd shapes. Interestingly, what I like about it my husband doesn't: the shapes and colors.

I bought ello for my 5 yr old girl.........she love it.....shes made things for her bedroom,picture frame,display stand,pencil holder etc.........its wonderful besides makeing things for her room u make people, houses.....everything.........its a wonderful toy for girls.....wish they had girl lego when i was young.....

I bought this kit for my 9 year old sister-in-law and she enjoyed painting the wooden models. There was plenty of paint and she mixed some of the colors (the instructions give good recommendations). She also painted the cards with the names of the horses she decided on. I was impressed with the instructions, horse facts, and helpful tips that came with the kit; the little wooden figurines are even hand carved. One of the horses she painted became a Christmas ornament (the string and magnets were a nice touch). Overall, it's a great kit.

... I bought three of the Horses kits, they had a fabulous time and my husband and I enjoyed the night much better with them painting, creating and laughing away rather than watching TV or playing electronic games. My daughter was given another horse kit about 2 years ago and she still played with them pretty regularly and sit on her night table. They bring back memories.

For the above reasons, I am quite fond of the kit, I also love the fact that the horses are hand done from solid wood. I guess other cheap plastic horses will be more durable for my five year old son but i do not think paints can stick to plastic well and my daughter likes natural wood. For my 8 year old daughter, she plays with the horse but does not bang them on the floor so they are still as good as new after 2 years.

I have given the same kit to three of my daughter's friends birthday parties and two moms raved about it. I would like to see a large deluxe kit for craft party.

There are only three horses to paint. The paints seem nice and in good containers. My set came with only one brush! I am sure my three little girls will enjoy this toy very much. I went to a craft shop today and bought more wooden horses so they could paint to their hearts content. For the high price of the toy I was a little disappointed in the small number of wooden horses!

I love this..It is so soft and easy to shape and it doesnt stick. My mom used to always buy it for us but she stopped because it was always rock hard when bought. I wish that she still bought it but i dont care because whenever i see it i dont want it anymore becase i know its for little kids..lol..anyways its great!

This stuff feels light as air, and is easy to model and mold into just about anything. With the first package we bought, the Model Magic was hard as a rock (so it was obviously ancient). I emailed Crayola, who apologized profusely and offered me a coupon for a new package (their customer support system is prompt and professional- 5 stars for that!). It should be noted, then, that if you want your creation to be permanent, leave it out to air dry (about 24 hours). If you want to be able to keep playing with it, put it in an airtight container. I tried putting water on the rock hard stuff (as the website suggested trying), but it didn't do anything. More fun than playdough (and doesn't smell funny, either).

I love this product! It's on the expensive side for what you are getting, but it's great for kids. I have a 2 and 4 year old and they love to mix the colors and see what happens. They make balls with swirls, roll it out and use cookie cutters or just shape whatever they want. It is as educational as water colors for learning the mixes of colors without the mess. It doesn't get all over the place like play-doh. There is nothing to break because when it dries, it is almost like rubber. If pulled too hard, it will break. The downside....once the package is opened, you must use it all because it doesn't store very well. There is even a disclaimer on the package. There are individual 2 oz. packages sold for people who just want to try it. Once you're sold, you will want the larger tubs because it works out cheaper.

I bought this for my grandson, Brad who is a precocious 4 year old. He has told me that he wants to become a dentist {when he's not driving a grader!} and work with me, I'm a dental hygienist.This easily led to an educational toy when we discussed plaque,cavities and their causes. Brad's sister, Macey ,who is only one and a half was able to place the play dough into the tooth molds and enjoyed participating. We all enjoyed the realistic tongue and Brad felt very important looking at and exploring the teeth with the instruments. He especially thought the extractions were great.. Fun, educational and an enjoyable toy to play with your Babchi {Polish Grandma!]

My son loves this toy. I am not too fond of Play Doh since it gets everywhere and in the carpet, but my son plays with this toy very often. He is also learning about the importance of taking care of his teeth. I have played with it with and find it fun and easy. This is one toy that he can play by himself with ease also.

-------This toy is very very educational, because it teaches children how important it is to take care of their teeth.
It's very fun to make "good healthy teeth" and "bad infected teeth".
This is a must for all children!-----

I bought this for my 5-year old. She needed help putting it together, but she painted it by herslef and had a great time. These kits are reasonably priced, too. I hope they come out with more.

My son built the kit himself with little help after receiving it as a gift. He painted it as well, a great way to use up left over house paint.

That was three years ago and we have had birds nest in it each spring since! This year we plan to buy the kits so the kids can assemble and paint them as gifts for grandparents.

I bought this for my daughter, who wanted to try her hand at building a bird-feeder, yet the cast-iron-frying-pan-weilding-wife didn't want her baby near power tools (read: saws). Hey, with this kit you CAN NOT go wrong. My 11 year-old daughter tore into this with a passion.

The only time she ran into problems was when she didn't follow the directions. Other than 30 seconds of guidance from me, she *really* did do it all by herself. And don't think THAT fact was lost on her. It was so easy to do (and so low-risk, Mom!) that we would not hesitate to recommend this to any other parent, nor will we fail to buy her the other kits in this series, as long as they match the quality of this bird feeder.

All in all, this is one of the all-too-rare toys on the market - it works as advertised, is a blast for the kids, and gives value way beyond its very reasonable price.