Robinsons Fruit Shoot Smencils Review

It’s nearly Back to School time! Yes I am breathing a sigh of relief at getting some of my afternoon’s back when Roo heads into pre-school but will then panic like mad as we have her 4th birthday party weekend to organise, halloween, bonfire night and then Christmas. Even though she’s only going to pre-school in an afternoon we’ve still been looking for cute stationery for her to take to class and the new Robinsons Fruit Shoot Smencils are definitely classed as cute and cool.

I loved the back to school rush as a kid and spookily as a mum I am now doing this with Roo. So far on our list we’ve got new haircut, uniform, socks, shoes, bags, lunchboxes, bobbles, clips and my all time favourite… new stationery. It’s funny but when I was little I loved pencils and wanted to own a proper stationery shop. This love of pencils I’ve kept all the way through life and usually collect them when we go out for a day. Roo now has her own collection and so far has 100 pencils in her cabinet to use as and when.

So, I was very excited when we given the chance to review the new Robinsons Fruit Shoot Smencils by Learning Resources as they made me reminisce about scratch n sniff pens from when I was a kid (ok maybe I am showing my age now!).

Smencils, as you’ve probably guessed, are pencils that smell, or scented pencils as they are more commonly known.  The difference between Smencils and ordinary scented pencils is Smencils are the worlds only scented pencils to be made from 100% recycled newspaper.

This is great as I am trying to use more eco and green products with Roo since she was born as I believe it’s important for our kids to understand about our world around us and the resources we are using.

As they were scented pencils, I had assumed that they would also be colouring pencils, so I was quite surprised to find out that they were graphite drawing pencils. Once I got over this I opened the packet to find five high quality pencils that when I used to scribble some notes for Daddy E were of excellent quality with very nice leads, and great to hold.

I then did the smell test to find out which was my favourite and which was Roo’s.

The pencils come in five different (and rather delicious it has to be said) Fruit Shoot Flavoured Scents:

• Tropical
• Orange
• Apple
• Summer Fruits
• Blackcurrant & Apple

My favourite was tropical as it reminded me of being on holiday and having a lazy cocktail by the pool. Roo loved blackcurrant and apple because she said it smelled like Gruffalo crumble pudding.

Each smencil comes in it’s own biodegradable tube, guaranteeing freshness for two years – this is pretty impressive and I will be intrigued to see if this is the case.  Mind you will Roo remember to put them back in the tube?

Robinsons Fruit Shoot Smencils are a really fun way to get kids to enjoy writing, they are quirky and different and no doubt would be a talking point in the classroom when they all go back to school in September.  Until Roo totally gets the hang of writing then they are staying in my pencil pot because they look great and smell divine when I need to write notes – sorry Roo!

I also found out that Smencils make scented colouring pencils and alsoscented pens – called Smens.  I think that these may well find their way into a certain little madam’s Christmas stocking as no doubt she will enjoy colouring with them on Christmas morning.

If you would like to win one of ten of the Robinson Fruit Shoot Smencils Starter Kits, then you can enter the Learning Resources Facebook Competition here on Facebook.  The competition closes on Midnight Friday 14th September so good luck!