I am a complete newbie to any arts, crafts, hobbies or anything like this so I have to ask a stupid question.. are they able to be blended with water?

That is a reasonable question. I don't believe these can be blended with water. They are softer than a crayon and oil based. Once a picture is drawn, a person can rub with a finger or paper towel to blend colors together (smudging). Hope that helps.

how washable are these? hands, clothing, surfaces? appropriate for smaller children?

They come of of hands easy enough, however I wouldn't expect oil pastels to come out of clothing easily. My 12 year old loves working with them, but I don't think I would let my 6 year old use them.

What Is ACMI?The Art And Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI) is a non-profit association of manufacturers of art, craft and other creative materials. Formerly known as The Crayon, Water Color & Craft Institute, Inc., it was re-organized and expanded in 1982 to include more types of art materials and was re-named The Art And Craft Materials Institute, Inc. The name of the association has recently been changed to The Art And Creative Materials Institute, Inc. to more accurately reflect the wide variety of materials in its certification program. Since 1940, ACMI has sponsored a certification program for children's art materials, certifying that these products are non-toxic and meet voluntary standards of quality and performance. ACMI's certification program has received the endorsement of experts in the field of toxicology and is one of the finest industry programs in existence. The program has been a responsive one, evolving to meet new challenges and to include ever more products. In 1982, the program was expanded to include certification of a broad spectrum of art and craft materials, including adult products, ensuring that health warning labels are affixed on adult materials where appropriate. All children's materials certified by ACMI are non-toxic and cannot bear health warning labels. Today ACMI has over 200 members and has certified over 60,000 art, craft and other creative materials. ACMI seeks to create and maintain a positive environment for art, craft and other creative materials usage; to promote safety in these materials; and to serve as an information and service resource on such products. In these ways, ACMI provides leadership, guidance, and education to all to achieve greater participation in art, craft and other creative activities.How does a product get approved by ACMI?ACMI has a consulting toxicology team at Duke University's Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, who review the complete formulas of products in the certification program. In this evaluation, the toxicology team take into account:Each ingredient and its quantityPossible adverse interaction with other ingredientsThe product's size and packagingPotential acute and chronic harm to any part of the human bodyPossible allergic reactionHow a product is commonly used and misusedU. S. national and state labeling regulations.The Toxicologists must approve the formula of every color of every product and must approve every formula change. Safety is the only consideration. The toxicology team keeps informed of new scientific data on ingredients from government and private sources. Previously-approved ingredients have been banned and restrictions established when new developments have occurred. Cautionary labeling is required on products when appropriate. All products certified as non-toxic by ACMI are non-toxic for both children and adults because the Toxicologists base their evaluation on the use and misuse (such as ingesting a material) of the product by a small child. The decisions of the toxicology team are final, subject only to appeal by ACMI's Toxicological Advisory Board, which is composed of leading toxicological experts in the United States. These toxicologists act as a review board on issues of toxicity. They review the criteria used by ACMI's toxicology team and make recommendations to ACMI. Current members of the Toxicological Advisory Board are: Elaina Kenyon, M.D., Toxicologist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Dr. John H. Mennear, Consultant Scientist in Pharmacology and Toxicology; and Thomas B. Starr, Ph.D., Principal, TBS Associates.What do the ACMI Seals mean?Approved Product The new AP (Approved Product) Seal, with or without Performance Certification, identifies art materials that are safe and that are certified in a toxicological evaluation by a medical expert to contain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, including children, or to cause acute or chronic health problems. Such products are certified by ACMI to be labeled in accordance with the chronic hazard labeling standard, ASTM D 4236, and the U. S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA). Additionally, products bearing the AP Seal with Performance Certification are certified to meet specific requirements of material, workmanship, working qualities, and color developed by ACMI and others through recognized standards organizations, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Some products cannot attain this performance certification because no quality standard currently exists for certain types of products.Cl The CL Seal identifies products that are certified to be properly labeled in a program of toxicological evaluation by a medical expert for any known health risks and with information on the safe and proper use of these materials. This Seal appears on only 15% of the adult art materials in ACMI's certification program and on none of the children's materials. These products are also certified by ACMI to be labeled in accordance with the chronic hazard labeling standard, ASTM D 4236, and the U. S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA).

What colors are included? I'm trying to decide on the 25 vs 50 set. Thanks! :)

I bought two sets, each for a different family so I don't have the specifics. However, I just checked on Amazon, the set of 50 is $5.99 and 25 is $4.29. I say definitely the 50 is a better buy and kids can't never have enough colors. Hope this helps.

Manufacturer	PENTEL
Brand	Pentel
Model Number	PHN-50
Product Dimensions	2.03 x 16.51 x 25.65 cm; 381.02 g
Colour	Multicolor
Pencil Lead Degree (Hardness)	3B
Material Type	Chalk
Number of Items	1
Size	50 count (Pack of 1)
Point Type	Medium
Line Size	0.5mm
Ink Colour	Pastel colours
Manufacturer Part Number	PHN-50
Item Weight	381 g

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