Writing is much more fun with bright colored pencils and it is way more fun to let your kids enjoy painting their pencils themselves.
You will need:
Bare wood pencils
Tempera paints in various colors
Jars
Newspaper
Paperclips
A string
Lay down a few sheets of newspaper on the working area and have the kids climb into painting aprons. Pour the paints into the jars. Put a paperclip on the eraser of each pencil so that you can hold it. Dip the pencil in the color you chose as a base then choose another color and dip the pencil again only part of the way to add another block of color. Continue dipping, at different depths, to create subtle stripes of color. After you finish, hang the pencils on a string to dry in the sunshine.