Crayola Safety Scissors

Although I wouldn't call myself a very creative person I do enjoy making things. Not so many years ago I would create and paint chess sets, and I used to make collages and fill scrap books to remind me of things I had done and places I visited as a youngster. I don't usually bother with Christmas cards now, though I have made my own in the past from wrapping paper and other old Christmas items from the year before. These are all things in my past, though I do still have a lot of the things relating to this period of my life, and I occassionally will use my craft materials to help with more mundane tasks through the day.

Although plastic craft scissors are not the first item you would expect to see in an office, I use them when I am cutting charts down to size that I have printed out. I am always dealing with data, and I find that having it physically in front of me is easier to access than it being on the laptop.

Crayola Straight and Zig Zag Scissors

This product comes as a pack of two pairs of brightly coloured safety scissors. The red pair has a straight edge to the blade and cuts like 'normal' scissors would, and the dark purple pair give a zig zag cut, which is something that may be desirable for creative work. As these scissors are designed with small hands in mind they are made from tough plastic, and their beefy design suits childrens' hands much better than adults!

This is where my first criticism comes. The packaging clearly states that these safety scissors are designed to cut just paper and cardboard. You may think this is fair enough when you are dealing with children. Unfortunately children may also want to cut other materials, if they are using things other than paper or cardboard. The upshoot of this is that the child cannot have much success at cutting their clothes or anything else they may wish to destroy! These are safety scissors afterall, and I think this tiny negative is acceptable given the nature of the product.

The scissors are not ideal for use by adults as they are intended for small fingers, though I can just about manage to use them with a modicum of accuracy. Ideally I should use ordinary scissors, though I have never got round to buying a proper pair.

The safety scissors do not have a very sharp blade, which is obviously intentional due to them being safety scissors. Paper and cardboard are the only materials worth bothering with, though I find that they cut with accuracy and a clean finish nevertheless.

Price and availability

I won't have paid more than £3-£4 from the craft shop in town for this product a number of years ago. They are now available on sites such as Amazon at around a similar price. Personally I think this is a great price, and you are getting two pairs for the price of one. The zig zag edegd scissors are not great for anything other than crafts, though I find the straight scissors are good for general use, as long as I stick to cardboard and paper, so in that sense the product is priced very well.

Final thoughts

Overall I am very pleased that I still have these scissors in my craft box. Although the 'blades' were never sharp due to them being safety scissors, they still work very well and cut accurately and efficiently. I also find I don't accidently cut myself - even adults can have accidents! The quality and price of the product leads me to awarding 5 stars. The zig zag scissors may not be used quite as often as the straight ones, but they will always come in useful at some point.