The Best Toys of 2006 – School-aged

Crayola Color Explosion Spinner

Manufacturer: Crayola
Ages: 6 and up
Suggested Retail Price: $25

What it is
Crayola's new "hue-tech" spin art machine with strobing lights and variable speed turntable lets kids take their eye-popping Color Explosion artwork for a spin. This kit comes with everything kids need to make and display wildly colorful yet mess-free creations on a spinning surface.

The fun begins by using the enclosed special marker to reveal wild color patterns on the Color Explosion paper. Then set the folded paper in the spinner and watch as the design changes. Add to the creativity by dropping the clear color-reveal solution onto the paper as it spins inside the spinner.

Strobe lights add to the 3-D effect and a speed control knob lets kids slow down or speed up the spinning action so their artwork looks different every time.

Why it's fun
This is classic arts and crafts play, made easy and mess-free. The addition of 3-D effects makes it even cooler. Kids have made Color Explosion a huge hit because they are intrigued by the atypical type of "coloring." Rather than applying color to white paper, they reveal color by using the marker or liquid to remove the black coating in patterns and reveal the colors underneath.

The optical illusion is exciting and the ability to vary the effects both by changing the speed and lighting of the spinner and by adding more color change liquid makes this an ongoing activity.

Kids are also intrigued by the various patterns and projects they can make. What we find continually is that sometimes the simplest things (paper and optical illusion) can be deeply engrossing because the child is in control of the experience and expressing him or herself through the play.

Who's going to love it
Girls and boys love creating colorful spin art projects. Adults appreciate Crayola's spinner because it replaces the mess and paint, usually associated with spin art, with a single marker that makes colors appear when it meets the black paper.

What to be aware of
The Color Explosion Spinner unit comes with one color explosion marker, a bottle of cooler explosion solution, 10 sheets of paper and an idea guide.

Additional kits, sold separately, expand the spinner's value with new effects such as a Kaleidoscope kit, which places a kaleidoscope over the artwork creating custom kaleidoscope creations and cutout kits, which allow kids to cutout images and shapes then decorate and customize in the spinner. Additional kits also include paper and solution refills.