3D chalk: Does it work?
Saturday, May 16, 2009 by RockstarMama
Defacing stuff is fun, even if it’s just your own driveway.
3D chalk sounds like something you would maybe use to scribble mad art while draped in a glow necklace and drunk as hell at some ’90s rave. Well now, thanks to the mad scientist peeps at Crayola, you can relive that fun time with your kids, minus the glow sticks, bad music and bouncers named Thor.
I picked up this little treat at my favorite Vegas Target for a measly $5. Quite a bargain and a loss I could stomach in today’s economy if it turned out to be a dud. The back of the package promises popup-style magic beyond your wildest dreams, assuming, of course, that you have some type of artistic prowess, which I don’t. I can do an assortment of killer doodles, but nothing that would sell.
Pop open the plastic and you’ll find five double-color fat chalk sticks and instructions that for maximum amazement, you should create your masterpieces using a combination of colors. The best part? These freakin’ awesome 3D glasses!
If you have a pretty big noggin, no worries–the Crayola folks seem to be on to the fact that adults are going to be wearing them at least half the time; the specs are one-size-fits-all and lightweight plastic. In addition, Kailey’s sticky lollypop remnants were easily wiped off.
And now for the magic. For an unbiased review, and because I suck at sketching, I wrangled the husband into drafting a few lovely drawings for our review.
Things drawn:
1. Orange box
2. Purple box
3. Pink box
4. Yellow box
5. Yellow moon
6. Star
The kids then followed up with a series of multi-colored lines (”SNAKES! WE MADE SNAKES!”) and some mystery circle-shaped items, one of which was announced to be a dinosaur.
Add glasses.
Drumroll.
Well, it sort-of worked!
Here are some tips.
a) Get your lazy butt off the ground. The 3D effect is a lot more impressive the farther you are away from the chalk sketch you made of your house or your name doodled in bubble letters. Stand up and stand back. Pretty cool, huh?
b) Some colors are more “3D” than others. In our package, the orange really popped up but the yellow didn’t really do anything. So try ‘em all.
c) Minimal de
signs jumped out the most. The husband’s meticulously colored-in solid boxes looked ok, but the single lines and circles the kids drew almost seemed a foot off the ground. So channel Picasso some other time.
Complaints: Only ONE set of 3D glasses? Come on! Everyone was fighting over who got to wear them. Kailey scratched me on the kneecap when I wasn’t giving ‘em up. Little badass.
Fun surprise: The glasses work with the chalk, but that’s not all! I was walking around our garage looking for my beer and a little orange koosh ball scared the crap out of me because with the glasses on, it looked like it was hovering right by my face.
The verdict? It’s not bad! Definitely worth $5. The next morning, of course, I found all of the chalk at the bottom of our plastic shark pool… but I have twins, what can you do.
Check out my review of the ShamWow!
Brand new: Youthology–does it work?
Tried the SmoothAway? No? Want to know if it works?
Read my review of the Leg Magic!
Got something else you’d like me to review? Submit your suggestions here.
You are too funny. Loved the “fun surprise.”
i’m definitely picking up the 3D chalk. of course, i plan to use it when my kids are at school and napping. i’m not going to want to share the glasses.
Samantha–I really screamed and scared my husband! He was all “you’re dumb” but then of course wanted to wear the glasses around to see what else was 3D.
Deborah–Sharing is hard. Something else fun was after we drew stuff, I was standing pretty far back and it looked like the kids were walking through the chalk. Trippaaaay!
I can’t wait to do this with the kids.It will be awsome.We could do the whole street and make people wear the glasses when they are driving down the street.Would look like the 70’s.
I totally needed a gift idea today and this wins.
Grandpa… I am coming to your street cause that would rock.
When I saw the commercial for this I got really excited. I have no tots, but still fill tempted to try them. I use to be a nanny and chalk on the driveway was one of my favorite activities. Adding a 3D element, pure genius!
Grandpa–I’m sure the homeowners association would love that. Eh, screw them!
Kat–Grandpa rocks. He always has the good ideas.
LLnL–Seriously! Now I need to find out if there’s glow-in-the-dark chalk.
Got the 3d safari kit at the Wal Mart for 9 bucks.. could not get the adults to give the kids the glasses back. Too much fun.
Pumpkin Masters makes a glow in the dark chalk. I’ve also seen a recipe online to make your own. I haven’t personally tried either of them yet.
here’s a link to a recipe:
http://www.easyfunschool.com/GlowInDarkChalk.html
Kailey is so cute! Good review, now I can invest. I didn’t get it when it first came out because I was so sure it wouldn’t work. Wonder if you can order an extra pair of 3-D glasses from the Crayola Website. I can’t draw wurth a damn myself but I’d sure like to take a few shots of Tequila and have at the 3-D Chalk!
Must….go….buy…>.>
thanks for stopping by the toy-tma blog! you’re right, the glasses make it all worth it. Try looking through the 3D glasses at a tree with leaves blowing in a slight breeze. recommend laying in the grass with the kids for this one. if the sun is just right, it creates an amazing 3D show and the whole world feels alive.
soon, when its already available in Indonesia, I’ll go take it… and draw many things in front of my house, hahahaha….
hope my mother not angry with that… just think the way to make my mother join me draw together, hihihi….
The chalk works great…. on paper also!
So, I am going to test the chalks on different colors of paper, to experiment with results.
Oh yes…. kids will have fun with the chalks also.
I don’t know if Crayola sells extra glasses separately, but you can order extras on-line. The glasses use a patented process called ChomaDepth. Google (or search) chromadepth and you can find order information.
Hey Everyone! I love art especially when it seems so real. One of my favorite types of art is sidewalk 3d chalk art. Enjoy
OMG! …if it really work, so I need some of that chalks… and the lolipop sounds good too! LOL! You Rock gurl! XoXo Micy RockStar
Kat: SAFARI KIT!?!? I must have it.
bittlemom: What would rock more than glowy chalk? Plus how much fun is a site called “EasyFunSchool”?
Reddrida: Nothing wrong with mixing Tequila and chalk. Just don’t eat the chalk.
Katie: Did you try it? Did you like it?
Dungan: Whoa. Ok, that’s amazing. Also the kids are never getting these glasses back.
andi Cihuy: The drawing is definitely more fun as a collaborative effort! I hope they’re available by you soon…
Just4Fun: I didn’t even think to try it on paper… Did you try it on diff colors of paper? Any experimental results to report?
megan: I did find some bigger sets that had more than one pair of glasses, SWEET! Of course the twins lost them in a matter of hours. Good thing they’re cheap.
3d chalk drawings: I’m not sure what WE made would be called “art” so much as “scribbles”. Need to polish up my art skills so I can make something other than the traditional 3D box!
Micy RockStar: Nothing makes drawing with chalk more fun than a lolipop. Snacks are key in all activities.
You where drunk at Raves?…..
lol I’m kidding!
You rock!!! I googled on “youthology” and found YOU. You saved me big bucks AND, better yet, made me laugh. Been wondering about that hair sandpaper, too. And Shamwow. May have to buy some of these 3-D crayons, though. Thanks!(P.S. When your twins reach “science fair age,” no one else will have a chance!)
Interesting, we have gotten a lot of reviews about this product, i think defiantly helps deciding if its good
Actually these glasses work on any kind of printed material where there are contrasting patterns or graphic elements. It’s all about the glasses – it has nothing to do with the chalk. Pretty awesome for $5!
bg