His Treasure Seekers

Looking for a simple gift sure to delight a young art lover?  Check out Kwik Stix Tempera Paint Stix from The Pencil Grip, Inc.  They sent us a 12-pack of these fun art sticks to review, and they were a big hit with our whole family!

About Kwik Stix

Basically, Kwik Stix are a way to get the bold, bright colors of tempera paint without the mess.  They are available in a 6 Pack (great stocking stuffer!), 12 Pack, or a large class set of 96. If a child is old enough to hold a crayon, they can easily use Kwik Stix.  They’re similar to glue sticks in thickness and in the way they twist up from the bottom.

The color goes on very smoothly, almost like oil pastels, only without the mess.  Just take off the cap, paint, and the color is dry within 90 seconds.  You can use them on paper, cardboard, wood, and canvas for quick, easy art projects without having to get out smocks, brushes, water, and everything else that usually comes along with painting.

Our Experience

I knew Kwik Stix were going to be a hit with my children, and I was right.  All four of them ages 2-7 had a blast creating pictures.  (While the caps are small enough that young children who put things in their mouths would need supervision, I loved how easy it was for my 2-year old to join the older kids’ fun.)  At first I tried to do just two kids at a time, thinking of other art projects we’ve done, but because these didn’t require cups of water and messy paints, it really wasn’t a big deal when the others came and joined in.  I was especially impressed with how quickly the paint dried.  My kids ended up making paper airplanes out of their pictures, and nothing got on their hands even though they had just finished them.

My 7-year old went straight to work creating multiple drawings, but I think some older kids (or those more artistically inclined) might want more precision than these thick sticks can give.  We found that the colors mixed pretty well just by using one on top of another.  Ian wanted gray and easily got it by drawing with black on top of white.  I loved that when a tip got another color on it, it was easily wiped off so the colors could stay true.

The only thing I didn’t like about Kwik Stix was the caps. We have a constant battle in our house trying to keep caps on markers, so I’ve drilled it in to my kids that they need to put caps on the ends so they don’t get lost.  My 4-year old had trouble getting the caps off by herself, and then once I got it off for her, she tried to put it on the end and realized she couldn’t.  Only my oldest was able to get the caps on tightly when he was done, so I had to go through the set and fix most of them.

Overall, however, we loved the Kwik Stix!  According to my kids, they smell like pancakes.  (I don’t necessarily agree, but at least they don’t smell bad!)  The kids loved the bright, bold colors, and I loved how easy it was to let them have a good time creating beautiful art with no mess to clean up!

Want to win your own Kwik Stix?  The Pencil Grip, Inc. has generously offered to send a 6-pack to one of my readers!  Enter the giveaway below!

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