Earlier this week, I took my Faber-Castell soft pastels off a high shelf where they’d been collecting dust for quite a while. I’m pretty sure I received them as a gift many years ago (thank you Auntie Lorrie Beth!), but I had sort of forgotten about them.

I was inspired to give these to the kids to use because I’ve been reading about the importance of using quality art supplies with kids so that they don’t get frustrated if they don’t see the results they’re looking for (like the cheapie easel we have where you have to really push the chalk down hard to make it show up, and half the time it doesn’t work). I knew these pastels would deliver bold bright color immediately, so down they came. My kids got so into their creations and really loved the colorful results and the ability to mix the colors together on the paper. My son requested some pretty music, so I found a classical station on Pandora which seemed to inspire his “volcano” creation.

I will warn you that soft pastels are powdery and messy. I’ve been putting a wipeable tablecloth down when we use them, and then making sure the kids wash thoroughly before jumping on the furniture. I hate to say it, but I’ve also been throwing away their work. If you want to save a soft pastel drawing, you need to “fix” it with a special spray. I haven’t done this yet, but have been giving them the satisfaction of creating with these pastels then quietly disposing of the powdery paper. Bad mommy!

For more quality art supplies, check out Stubby Pencil Studios, which sells lots of “eco products for creative kids”.

$6.78 for a set of 24 at DickBlick.com