Faber-Castell has long been known for its colored pencils, markers, and other art tools for kids. However, with its Connector Pens, suitable for kids ages 6 and up, the opportunity for creativity extends beyond the page. Each set comes with 50 pens in a wide array of colors, and they can be clipped together by their caps. The set also includes plastic clips, which not only connect pens together, but can swivel to allow them to be fastened in perpendicular lines. Now kids are able to build unique—and very colorful—sculptures out of their Connector Pens; or at the very least, the clips can help keep pen sets together and organized. During a recent demo, my focus group went the former route and then some, linking the pens to make all kind of structures that could write or draw:
As you can see from the video above, the pens themselves are capable of vibrantly colored lines, even (or especially?) when reconstructed as some bizarre Franken-Pen. Regarding the pens, they do seem more adept for adding texture, squiggles, or shading to drawings—that is, if your goal is to color in an entire blank page, your pen would probably need re-hydrating several times before you finished. Each set does come with a booklet showing the most advantageous ways to use the pens, as well as ideas for sculptures to make. The bottom line: With its Connector Pens, Faber-Castell offers the open-ended fun of a construction set and arts and crafts kit combined. It’s the best of several different worlds of play.
This product and more from Faber-Castell will be on display at The Big Toy Book’s Sweet Suite 14 event in New York City on July 17. Part of Blogger Bash, a two-day conference connecting bloggers and brands nationwide, Sweet Suite will feature the hottest toys and games for the upcoming holiday season. Visit thebigtoybook.com for more info, and follow the conversation on Twitter!
