Kwik Stix (A REVIEW)

As most of you know, I love art. All my kids LOVE art. So, it goes without saying we've had our fair share of messy painting sessions. Well, not anymore! I am completely in awe with these no mess paint sticks called Kwik Stix 12 pk. They are pretty much an answer to the,  "can we please have a non-messy art project?" prayer.

The company that makes these little beauties is called The Pencil Grip, Inc. They are pretty much genius to come up with this idea. I kept finding myself staring at these little sticks and wondering, how? How did they figure out how to get paint into the stick so that we can paint with it, and it would look and feel like paint? Amazing, if you ask me!

We received the 12 pack of basic colors for our review. We also were sent an extra sample (which happened to be red), so one extra stick if you count the sample. I thought it was nice that they gave us red as the extra because don't you remember running out of red first as a kid? I do. I remember that always being the color that was used the most. Hmm... maybe that's just me. Anyway, I digress.

After we opened up the package I had some very excited kids. They didn't waste anytime, and wanted to dig in...

Oh my, this was a bliss full art hour. They loved these and just created page after page of random art doodles. I didn't really have any art projects planned yet. I just let them explore and come up with their own creations.

They created a huge stack of art. I thought it was fun to see what they came up with. And, yes, this stuff dries in 90 seconds.

I just love how vibrant the colors look with these! They go on like a tempera paint would, you can make it thick or thin depending on how much pressure you use. They can be mixed to make different shades or colors. We had a lot of fun experimenting with these.

How else did we use them?

The best part is that these are so great for projects. Besides the free art time they had when we first got them, we used them for some art and craft projects.  I printed up some crafts where painting is usually required, and we've done them before with regular paint, but had to wait forever to cut them out. Not with these! I was able to start cutting after a few minutes, and he was able to assemble his project right after he painted it. I loved this because he would often lose interest in finishing the project if we had to come back to it later when it dried. Not only that he was able to keep it in the lines, and he loved having the choice of so many different colors.

Here is his completed train, and we did that all in the time it took for him to paint while I cut. Probably 30 minutes. Can you tell I'm impressed with the drying time?

What do I think?

It's probably pretty obvious what I think, and that is... I really love these. I do believe we will be making these a staple in our art supplies. I love that they dry quick, they are small so they don't take up a lot of space, and they are fun. We went out on a date the other night (the hubs and I), and I left them on the table for the kids to create with while we were gone. I would definitely not feel comfortable leaving a babysitter with regular paint and 4 kids! But, with these I had no worries. I came back to see a nice picture created by my 7 year old. The only drawback I can think of is the blunt end. It isn't always pointy, so you have to use the edge possibly to make thin lines.

Oh, and one more thing. They also sent us in our package an original pencil grip. It was another nice little surprise that we received, and the kids liked trying it out. It is the little orange thing on the table in one of the pictures above. I didn't get any pictures of them using it, but wanted to mention that we also got to sample one of those. My kids like those things.

I am not the only one that was pretty impressed with these. Go see what my other crew mates had to say (some even have giveaways!). Click on the banner below.