“I just bought these markers last week! Everyone stop what you are doing and look for the blue marker lid.” Soon the house is turned over, couch cushions thrown to the floor, kids crawling under tables, hands reaching into those frightening places only a marker cap could have found its way into. Eventually, the entire couch is moved. Still no lid. Time is ticking and everyone has to load into the car for a dental appointment. The poor marker will not survive. Alas, another blue bites the dust.

If you have ever had the marker lid problem, The Pencil Grip, Inc. has created a dream come true solution. Magic Stix Washable Markers don’t dry out after a few fatal hours of no lid. In fact, we tested the claim that you can leave the lids off for seven days, and were surprised by the results. I know some other Homeschool Crew reviewers even left their lids off longer!

For our test, my 14-year-old son did three of the same picture. Here is the first picture with the Magic Stix Marker.

Here is the picture after seven days of cap off testing. When my son said, “Hey mom, these markers are BETTER after leaving the lid off for seven days!” I didn’t really believe him, but when I looked more closely at his pictures I could see what he meant. It is especially apparent in the gray area of the horns, the marker is very smooth in this second picture. (And we did label the first picture as soon as it was complete, so there was no mix up in which picture is which.)

The third test I wanted to complete was just to use another brand of marker to compare from a quality standpoint. Good supplies are important for good art, and there may be more important aspects of a marker than just saving them from sudden lid-lost death. For this picture, I bought a similar sized new pack of markers from the grocery store. I did not want to be comparing old markers with fresh. Here are the results.

My son and I agree the Magic Stix Markers are high quality from an artists standpoint. He was able to use the markers in creative ways, without them bleeding into a mess. For those who are curious, here is the process he went through to create these pictures.

First, he did a pencil drawing. Then he colored with the markers. After he colored the rainbow scales, he colored over them all with gray, in order to make a darker, moodier dragon look, as opposed to a Rainbow-Brite looking dragon. Then he went back over the picture with a quality black drawing pen to re-define his original pencil lines. You will notice the little green bits on the horns do not show on the other brand of marker picture. He did color them green, but the markers bled too much for it to show.

I love containers. Organized supplies are less likely to be lost supplies. Who wouldn’t love have this nice lay flat tray that keeps the markers organized and easy to grab and put away as you work. Cardboard boxes are inexpensive, but they also don’t last as long as the markers. If your kids are anything like mine, then it seems to require heroic efforts to actually put the markers back in the box while coloring, so that they don’t roll off the table. This storage tray makes it easy enough, they were actually putting the markers back in the tray…without reminders! Who knew such a thing was possible?