Can I just be honest right now? I have a love/hate relationship with art. I’ve never really cared for “craft” projects with preschoolers because it means that I get to make the craft while my antsy toddler or preschooler watches. Doesn’t that sort of miss the point of letting them do something, if they aren’t actually doing it? That is why I tend to prefer open-ended art and letting their creative juices flow.
But, BUT… oh, the mess. When all of mine were little, I’d set aside a day here and there for messy art. We’d pull out all the paints, I’d smile and soak in the sight of my kids delight, curiosity and creativity at work. Then I’d take them outside into our hot, dry desert and hose them down… Want to know what it was really like painting with toddlers/preschoolers in my home? Here is photographic proof of my glorious life, 5 years ago. Messy and a whole lot of fun.
Well fast forward a few years and a move to not so dry north-east Texas. I’m in the throes of homeschooling 3 kids – 3 very unique, often distracted, but oh so very awesome kids. Homeschooling is taking a lot longer these days and sadly the days of care-free painting with leisurely hose-downs are mostly a distant memory. I packed our easel because I wanted Greta to experience all of that glorious preschool art. But… the mess.
So when I heard about Kwik Stix, the wheels in my little brain started turning… What if I could give my little girl art – the opportunity to create – without all the mess? What if this could actually be a way for her to explore WHILE I’m homeschooling the boys? So I bit.
Kwik Stix are basically tempera paint in a stick. No drips, no paint brushes that can so easily be flung around. It’s paint in a stick that dries within 90 seconds! Yep, I’m game.
I come from the school of hard knocks {see picture above}, so when our Kwik Stix arrived, I made plans to try it out while my little one had my full attention. Naturally, one of the boys wanted to try them out too.
Greta was thrilled with her new paint and I promised she could try it again the next day during “school” time. She was elated.
Because I wasn’t going to be watching her closely, I put her bib/smock on to protect her clothes. There are no drips, but curious kids can pick at the paint with little fingers and then rub it off on their shirts… I only do laundry once a week, so I didn’t want to chance her getting a good shirt dirty.
We’re sold. It was so incredibly easy to supply her with paper and pull out the paint sticks while I grabbed my notebook for a spelling quiz. She painted, we worked. A win for everyone! Clean up was as easy as grabbing our Kwik Stix and slipping back in a storage box for next time. This will definitely become a staple in our “occupy the little one while I homeschool” arsenal!
*Kwik Stix GIVEAWAY* Hurray!
And because all homeschool mama’s with little ones need to stand together and with Christmas right around the corner, I’m doing a QUICK giveaway this week. One of you, my friends, will win a set of 12 Kwik Stix. We only have the set of 6 and the colors aren’t nearly as nice as the set of 12. When we need more, I know Greta will be excited to get her hands on that pink!
The giveaway is open to US residents!
Want to connect with them? You can find Kwik Stix on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
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{Disclaimer: I was offered these for free and compensated for my time invested. All opinions are solely my own after reviewing this and using it in our home. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more information.}
Heath! It’s Heath 🙂
What a fabulous invention!
I can’t believe how big your kiddos are becoming. I think about reading your blog years ago and how you only had the boys and they were so little! You’ve always had amazing ideas to share. It’s great to catch up here.
My 2 year old paints several times a week. I let her use inexpensive watercolors, and she only needs me to give her a small cup of water. It keeps her busy for quite awhile!
Watercolors are my absolute favorite!
I tried fingerprints with my daughter but the mess was horrifying and I’ve been putting off craft time ever since. I’d love to get back into it with a less messy option!
We rarely paint around here with my boys being 4 and 2, but these look amazing!
I don’t paint with my little guy because of the mess, but I should! These sound like a great solution.
Hmmm…in my ideal world, we would paint all the time. I would lime to do it more but it is just soooo messy! My son, though, took a feather once and created a “pen and ink” drawing using the feather and paints!
I love doing art myself but when it comes to my kids, i have to go to my happy place with my perfectionism
ha. Your happy place… I’ve had to do that too!
Yes! My kids love to paint — water color, finger paints, you name it, they want to paint with it. It would be amazing to be able to bust these out and be ready to go in five seconds flat, and if we could minimize clean up time too… score! 🙂
Watercolors are my personal favorite. 🙂
I don’t paint with them as often as THEY would like. But more so than I used to. These may just revolutionize art time an school time! Thanks, Heather!
My kids really love to paint, but oh… the mess… So, I have found that water color is great outside on the sidewalk or in the bathtub! The bathtub is also a great place to play with play dough! I am so happy that I figured this out. My two year old can sit in the bathtub forever and play, while keeping the mess contained and easy to clean up!
My husband is artist, so we do quite often, but I am not and so hate the clean up part, these would be great!
Finger painting does not happen too often around here…these look great!
These look awesome! I am homeschooling a Kindergartner and a preschooler, these would be great for my 2 year old and 1 year old!
Oh, these look wonderful!! I will be “officially” homeschooling next year and I will be needing something for my other little one. These look so great and I wish I’d heard of them sooner!
I do let my little ones paint, but not as much as I “should” probably. I don’t like the mess.
Occasionally but not as much as I should.
Thanks for sharing these. The paint sticks look like great fun.
These look awesome! I also have a love/hate relationship with art. Mostly I hate the mess and feel guilty for not allowing my kids to create as much as they would like.
When I’m feeling adventurous I will let everyone paint, but with 3 five and under it’s rare that I want to deal with the mess! (Not to mention the fact that the definition of “mess” has a picture of my two year old by it in the dictionary!! LOL)
These look great!
My two boys always get the paint everywhere, but we do paint every couple weeks or so. I majored in painting in college, so I love to pass on this love to my kids…but if I could avoid the mess, that would be amazing!! I don’t even like cleaning up my mess when I paint!
I don’t let them paint nearly as much as they would like, because of the clean up and not being able to keep an eagle eye on them while I teach the big kids. So these look like a great solution.