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What It Is
The Gadget Headz Car Factory is, to coin a familiar ad phrase,
a "new and improved" version of one of our favorite
recent kids' products, the Crayola Crayon Maker.
The Gadget Headz Car Factory operates on the same principle
as the Crayon Maker—melting down crayon bits, pouring
them into a mold and creating new crayons. The "new and
improved" Car Factory version adds a racing theme to
the mix with the introduction of racing car molds and attachable
pull-back motor chassis.
Now kids can take old broken bits of crayons and turn them
into totally unique crayon cars that they can race and still
color with.
Why It's Fun
Kids love watching the entire meltdown and molding process
because they are fascinated with the ways the crayons melt
and the colors mix together. Then they love playing with the
finished product. We haven't found a kid yet who wasn't fascinated
by this—or who didn't sit and stare at the crayons as
they melted.
After a few races, kids can take their cars and put them through
the crusher, which demolishes the cars and turns them back
into crayon bits to be used all over again.
Kids like the crushing a lot—especially boys. There is
something really satisfying and powerful about taking something
you've made and reducing it to a pile of wax bits—only
to start the process all over again.
Who's Going To Love It
Kids of all ages really get a kick out of creating their own
useable crayons. It's recommended for kids ages eight and
up, but we've found younger kids were fascinated by it as
well. The younger kids may be a little impatient at first,
but once they've started making cars, they like to play while
the wax is melting or the molded cars are cooling.
The racing-inspired design of the Car Factory tends to appeal
more to boys than girls, but for girls who are into cars—and
there are plenty of them—this is a great item.
What To Be Aware Of
The racing theme is carried over nicely throughout the product
design. All the switches, indicators and levers are car parts
or related to racing like the on-off knob, which is a hubcap
and the gearshift lever that, when pulled, pours the melted
crayons into the molds. There is even a bevy of racing-inspired
lights and sounds that accompany the process.
Younger children should be supervised to ensure that they
are able to work everything well enough to have a satisfactory
result.
The Car Factory comes with two different molds (stock car
and Formula One racer).
As with the original Crayon Maker, the Car Factory is a great
alternative to throwing out broken crayons.
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