It’s been almost ten years since I started this blog, and my children have grown up with reviews as a part of their every day lives, to the extent that I think they sometimes think the postman is Father Christmas in his ‘off-season’ uniform, and yet, the house is electric with excitement every time a new parcel arrives. This time it was a huge bag of stationary from Stabilo, filled with drawing and writing goodies.
Pens
There’s a variety of different pens, and I think one of the best features of the EasyStart pens is that they come in left and right-handed options. The non-slip grip zone makes for easy holding, which should prevent fatigue and help make handwriting neater. The ink is also easy to refill, with a replacement tip in each refill too. The kids loved the royal-blue colour of the erasable ink.
Pencils
We received two sets of pencils and these also have left and right-handed options. They are a triangular shape with non-slip grip moulds for a relaxed hold. The pencils also have a yellow and red colour coded system to show which are right-handed and which are left-handed and there’s also a space on each for writing the child’s name, which means no fighting about whose is whose. And I particularly liked that the pencils are made from wood from sustainable forests.
Markers
The real winner for the kids in this parcel were all the marker pens and let me tell you Stabilo are properly creative when it comes to markers! The STABILO Cappi set is particularly great for traveling, because the caps all have a string that they are threaded through. You remove the cap and do your drawing, and the cap remains attached to the rest of the bundle. Brilliant! Another bonus of these is that the ink is washable, which is always useful.
Another fabulous set is the Power 15 – this set of 15 markers have some long-life magic in them that means even if you do lose a lid, they will stay fresh and usable for up to 8 weeks. That gives you plenty of time to vaccum behind the sofa and find those confounded missing lids! These come in medium or extra-large tips.
The kids particularly loved the PASTELlove highlighters. I’m not sure where their love for highlighters come from, but they were taken with these mini-highlighters. STABILO comes in original colours, neon and pastels, and I think these minis are just ‘sample sizes’ but they are pretty cute.
We were also sent two marker sets – the Pen 68 and the point 88.
The Pen 68 set of 24 colours comes in a roll-up bag to keep them safe and together. Along with the usual colours there are also six flourescent colours and the kids squirreled this set away before I could even look closely at them.
I must admit I did the same with the Point 88 set is a fineliner set – with a fine tip – which I have hidden away in my cupboard. I’m not very artistic, but I do like doing different fonts and I’m keeping them for myself for those rare times I am able to sit and play with word-art.
Overall we loved everything in the box we were sent, and the kids have used them for dozens of different projects over the last few weeks. I think they are great value for money – they are excellent quality too and last longer than cheaper options that end up drying up really quickly and just end up all over. The kids have made a huge effort to actually keep these together and in good condition.
