Cra-Z-Art Washable Watercolors Review – 8-Color Set Worth It?

Quick Verdict

If you're hunting for an affordable, no-fuss entry into watercolors for a young child, the Cra-Z-Art Washable Watercolors deliver exactly what the label promises. The 8-color tray is compact, the formula truly washes out of most fabrics and off skin, and everything you need ships in one lightweight package. For school projects and casual home art sessions, it earns a solid score — call it 4.2 out of 5. Skip it, though, if you're after rich, professional-grade pigment or a brush that won't quit on you after a handful of sessions.

What Is the Cra-Z-Art Washable Watercolors?

The Cra-Z-Art 10651 watercolor palette is a self-contained art kit built around eight round watercolor disks seated in a plastic tray. A snap-close lid protects the colors during storage, and tucked into the lid is a short-handled brush — not a premium tool, but functional enough for its intended purpose. The formula is washable, which is the main selling point for parents of mess-prone kids. It carries an "ages 3 and up" designation and meets standard non-toxicity requirements for children's art supplies.

At its core, this is a budget watercolor set designed for the school supply list and the coffee-table art session alike. You won't find professional-grade pigment loads or archival-quality materials here — and you wouldn't expect to at this price point. What you do get is an accessible, low-stakes way to let a child explore color mixing, wet-on-wet techniques, and the joy of watching paint bloom across paper.

Key Features

• 8 brilliant washable watercolor disks in a snap-close plastic tray
• Includes a handheld brush — ready to use straight from the box
• Formulated to wash off skin, clothing, and most tabletops with water alone
• Non-toxic composition certified safe for children ages 3 and up
• Compact tray design fits easily in backpacks and desk drawers
• Bright, saturated-enough colors suitable for school and home projects
• Affordable enough to purchase multiple sets without concern

Hands-On Review

It sat on my desk for two weeks before I finally put it through its paces. I recruited my neighbor's daughter — an eight-year-old who treats every new art supply like a minor holiday — and we opened the tray on a drizzly Saturday. The snap-lock lid came apart easily, the disks looked vibrant under the gray afternoon light, and the brush emerged from its plastic cradle with a slight plastic smell that dissipated after the first rinse.

What surprised me was how evenly the paint activated. A damp brush touched to the red disk pulled color readily, and the first stroke on copy paper spread into a clean wash without the muddy patchiness I'd half-expected from a budget set. We tried mixing — red and blue made a serviceable purple, yellow and blue leaned more toward a fresh spring green than the muddy neutral I remembered from childhood Crayola sets. The colors aren't deeply saturated, but they cooperate with each other in a way that matters when a kid is experimenting.

By the end of the session, my neighbor's daughter had produced a small galaxy of layered washes on cardstock, and her hands were streaked with a faint blue that rinsed off under the kitchen tap in about twenty seconds. Her mom breathed a visible sigh of relief. That's the Cra-Z-Art promise in action — accessible fun without permanent consequences.

The brush, though, is the weak link. By our third painting session a week later, the bristles had started to flare outward slightly, losing the point needed for detail work. It's fine for broad washes and filling shapes, but anyone looking to do actual controlled lines will want to swap in a better brush. I keep a small watercolor round brush in my desk drawer specifically for moments like this — it made a night-and-day difference when we re-tested.

Another thing nobody mentions in the listings: the disks dry out if you leave the tray open overnight. Closing the lid properly after each session keeps them usable, but a forgotten session means a morning of re-wetting stubborn dry patches. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's worth establishing a habit with younger artists early on.

Who Should Buy It?

• Parents building a home art corner on a budget — the price point makes it easy to grab one (or three) without second-guessing the purchase
• Teachers stocking a classroom art station — the washable formula and included brush mean less prep work and fewer stained uniforms
• Young beginners (ages 4–8) exploring watercolors for the first time — the compact size and forgiving formula create a low-pressure creative environment
• Anyone needing a reliable "extra set" to toss in a travel bag or keep at grandma's house — it travels well and handles rough storage conditions

Skip this if you're an adult learner or parent of a child past the exploratory stage who wants rich, blendable washes and genuine pigment load — this is fundamentally a kids' introductory set, and it behaves like one.

Alternatives Worth Considering

• Crayola Washable Watercolor Pan Set — slightly higher pigment concentration and a more durable case, though typically priced about 20% higher; a better choice if washability is your top priority and you can stretch the budget
• Prang Watercolor Paint Sets — comparable in price and quality, with a slightly different color palette; a perfectly valid alternative when Cra-Z-Art is out of stock
• Pentel Arts Watercolor Pencils — not a direct replacement, but worth considering if you want a mess-minimizing entry point into watercolor that offers more control for developing fine motor skills

FAQ

Final Verdict

The Cra-Z-Art Washable Watercolors hold up well for their intended audience and price bracket. They won't satisfy a serious hobbyist or replace a quality artist-grade set, but for school projects, rainy-afternoon art sessions, and young children just discovering what water and pigment can do together, they hit the mark. The washability works as advertised, the color range is adequate, and the all-in-one format removes one more barrier between a kid and their first watercolor experiment. Will I keep using it? Yes — with the caveat that I've already swapped in a better brush, and I keep the lid snapped shut.