These are absolutely great!!! They are lovely and chuncky for gripping. They arrive not too pointed, so they are not dangerous. The pencil itself is softer than a normal pencil, but harder than a crayon, so they are safe, but give them a different writing experience.
My daughter is nearly two and has had her crayola chunky crayons since she was 12 months, so we have just progressed onto these. I would say this is about the right age as they are less chunky than the crayons, so a bit harder to grip and I think I would have been more nervous of her poking it in her eye at a younger age. She loves these as she loves drawing and she finds these easy to hold and loves the diffent animals on each one.
Every morning when we come downstairs I get asked for the pencils and she tells me their colour and the animal and even makes the animal noises...so they are much more fun than a normal pencil and so much safer.
I have just ordered a pack for Nannie's and a spare for ours she loves them so much.
Very highly recommended!