Kwik Stix (Review and GIVEAWAY!)
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.
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!
To be honest, I wanted him to dive in and get through it all this week. He didn’t. And so I just bit my tongue, took a deep breath, and let him go at his own pace. We took a day off for Arianna’s birthday and he still managed to get in a solid week’s worth of work, so I can’t complain. In addition to his history and math work on the computer, he’s reading through 
, the assigned literature for his history course. Ian loves being read to, but he’s usually reluctant to read on his own, so I was surprised at how enthusiastically he picked up the book each day. He even asked if we could get some of the other Stepping Stone books, intrigued by the titles like Man in the Iron Mask and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I told him I’d rather he wait a couple years and just read the “real” books, but I’d help him look at the library for the Stepping Stone versions.
As far as Elijah goes, I didn’t demand much from him this week. Instead of doing regular lessons, I set him to work systematically going through his 
and the 
book that uses the same blocks. I like giving him something to do besides flying through grade levels on CTCMath.com, and since he’s fascinated by building things, I figure his time is well spent developing his spatial visualization skills. After Christmas I’ll have him go back to lessons too, but for these light weeks I think this is a great Kindergarten activity.
, which I’d never seen.
If you’re looking for a sweet, thoughtful book to read with your preschooler, I would encourage you to check out 
This morning we gathered with some other homeschool families to celebrate Thanksgiving, and of course at one point we asked the kids to list the things they were thankful for. We’d had a hideous morning so far, and my kids’ answers did nothing to improve my mood: toys, cars, chairs, strollers, cups… basically just anything they saw in front of them. They were just not getting into the mindset we were trying to encourage, and I’m sure I didn’t help the situation, since I’d been in tears several times over the past couple hours and was barely holding myself together to lead the discussion.
For years, I clung to the promise God had given me in a vision when I was just fifteen, a promise of a husband and children. I longed for the life I have now and dreamed of getting to spend each day discipling the children He would give me. So even though I know it’s a gross misinterpretation of this Scripture, the words of the Psalm were a gentle reminder for this frazzled mom that I have so much for which to be thankful. Even on the stressful days, I want to make sure I am praising God, especially for these five precious blessings, “mere mortals” from whom I have nothing to fear.