Reviews (13)

Very Disappointing
My daughter just received this as a birthday gift. It is a nightmare! First of all it claims to be mess free, but that is a completely wrong. The release mechanism that allows you to pour the excess sand out at the end sticks and so when she shakes it the sand pours out all over the place. The kit contains six pictures that have cuts in them over adhesive. To color the picture, you pull off sections of the picture. Even I had difficulty lifting getting the paper to release properly! My daughter was very frustrated and upset that she was unable to do it. In addition, once the six pictures are used up, the whole thing is worthless! On the whole - it is definitely a big disappointment and I would steer clear of buying one.

THIS WAS GREAT FUN FOR MY 3 1/2 YR. OLD
HOWEVER, it is a bit messy and definately requires adult assistance. The sand sticks all over (including on top of the sand already on the picture). The dispenser, used to empty extra sand, does not work well at all. We had fun with it, but isn't really user friendly (unless a child is much older!).

All in all it was fun and my daughter made pictures for her teacher, aunt and grandparents. She really enjoyed it!

Still looking for info on purchasing additional sheets?????

Big mess for a "No-mess" project
We have a 5 and 7 year old. It was fun for them, but a little too messy. This project was difficult for them as well as for Mom! After the funnel broke, on the first try, no matter what we tried, sand went everywhere. We found it much easier to just put a larger piece of paper under the sticker, sprinkle the sand on, crease the paper, and pour back into the bottle. We had much less mess this way. It would be better to buy a child nice colors of craft sand & a glue stick and let them be creative with that.

Horrible Toy
My 4 year old daughter was given this toy for her birthday. Peeling the stickers off in the manner required is impossible for me, much less alone her. The lines peel up and this causes the picture to look incomplete. After doing the first picture our release button got stuck open and no amount of manipulation could fix it. Therefore, when you shake the box, the sand now comes out all over the place. The idea that you could ever "release" the sand back into the little bottles, even with the funnel is ridiculous. Due to static electricity you can never really get all the sand out of the box so you don't always get true colors. The only part of this activity my 4 year old can do is pouring the sand on. Thanks to the broken release button she can't even do the shaking. There are only six pictures included and as far as I can see there are no ways to purchase more, which at this point, I am thankful for! I would expect much better from Crayola. Save your money, your frustration and your home from turning into a beach and try another craft project!

No mess?... Not with this toy!!!
The box at the store said it was suitable for ages 3 and up so I thought it was a great idea for my creative 3 1/2 year old son, provided I helped him a little. Well, the help ended up being more than a little. In fact, he mostly had to wait for me to do almost everything but pouring the sand on the pictures. He did have fun and so did I and the pictures turned out very nice, but the work of pilling off the stickers is so minute that only precise hands can do it neatly. You have to plan in advance which stickers to pill off first so that you don't mess up the picture by pilling the smaller stickers. Some actually were still stuck to the bottom sheet and tore it a little, making a small hole in the picture.
As far as mess is concerned, this is not the right craft to do on a wooden table. Do cover yours before you start using this toy so that you don't end up with scatches all over it! The sand spreads all over the plastic artboard and ends up jamming the funnel realease button. My son's stuck in the open position so we have to be really careful when we shake the picture to spread the sand on it, and when we pour the excess sand back in the bottles. Our table ended up covered with sand (and it caused some scratches, like I said earlier).
The two picture frames are a great idea, but the tape doesn't stick very well and we're going to have to find a solution so that they don't keep on opening up.
All in all it's a great idea but it needs many improvements. To avoid frustration, I wouldn't recommand it for children under 10.
I had fun, but then again, I'm 30!!!... ... Read more