Mess-Free Painting with Kwik Stix {A Review and Giveaway}

I don't know about your children, but mine love creating all sorts of fun arts and craft projects. At the top of their list of fun things to do is painting. I love seeing the creations they make, however, there are times I hesitate when they ask to paint. I realize a lot of the hesitation comes from laziness on my part. I don't always want to take the time to protect the table, find the smocks, pour the paint, fill the cups with water, and hover over them to make sure they aren't making a complete mess. I admit, if it was just the older girls, it wouldn't be such a problem. Inevitably, the younger two ask to join in. That is when the mess-making ensues. Thankfully, I was contacted recently regarding a wonderful new product that allows the children to create wonderful works of art without all the mess. This product is called Kwik Stix which are sold by The Pencil Grip, Inc.  

Kwik Stix are non-toxic, solid, tempera paint sticks that allow a child to paint without making a mess. Water and paint brushes are not needed. A child needs simply to uncap the Kwik Stix, twist it up, and begin creating a lovely work of art. The sticks themselves remind me of a glue stick, and are just as easy to use. 

We were sent a 12 Pack of Kwik Stix which include the following colors:

As you can see, there is a lovely variety of colors included.

The Kwik Stix can be used to paint on paper, poster paper, cardboard, wood, and canvas. We have not had a chance to try them out on the cardboard, wood, or canvas, but they work very well on our regular printer paper and card stock. 

For our first project with the Kwik Stix, we made a Happy Thanksgiving banner as a family project. 

I loved that the children could work together in close proximity without having to worry about spilling paint or water.

I was the first one to get to use the Kwik Stix. I wrote Happy Thanksgiving on our banner. I remember marveling at how much nicer the writing looked than when I used markers to make our Welcome to School banner. The lines turned out  bright and bold, plus you get a thicker line than markers give.

The children then spent some time adding some cute pictures. 

The Kwik Stix can be used to paint small and large pictures. Though I did notice that it is easier to fill in smaller areas.

As you can see, the large turkey's body has quite a bit of white still showing through. Though the other parts of the turkey, plus the sun and tree filled in quite nicely.

Here is the completed banner:

After we finished the banner, Amelia wanted to make her own turkey.

She was able to get her turkey's body filled in a bit more completely, but it still has some white areas.

They also used the Kwik Stix to make some Thanksgiving cards.

Along with the Kwik Stix we were sent 3 of the company's pencil grips, so the children were using them while writing their cards. I think these are going to be a big help to Amelia as she has been struggling with holding her pencil properly and gets very shaky. After a little research, I realized we were sent the 3 Step Training Kit that contains the Crossover Grip, the Pinch Grip, and the Pencil Grip.  After we have used them for a while, I will share what we think of them in a separate post.

The children and I really enjoyed using the Kwik Stix. I love the ease of use, plus the lack of mess. That is a huge plus to me. The company boasts that the paint dries in 90 seconds. We have in fact found, in most cases, it dries in less than 90 seconds. When you use a single stroke, like I did while writing, it dries almost instantaneously. The areas that had extra layers on them, where the children were trying to cover the paper sufficiently, still dried in 90 seconds. I also appreciate that there is no strong scent/odor and stray marks clean up quickly and easily from the table surface.

Here are a couple of the comments I overheard the children say while they were using them:

"They dry in a blink."

"It's easy and fun to use."

One of the thoughts that popped into my head while I was using them is that they are sort of like a combination between paint, a marker, and a glue stick. It is so much easier to color in spaces with Kwik Stix as opposed to a marker. Though a large paint brush would work even faster. 

I highly recommend Kwik Stix. They are a great addition to our homeschool art supplies. I do admit, I don't think they will replace paint for us. For one, paint can be mixed to create many different colors, where these can not. Secondly, for filling in large areas, paint will go further and is easier to apply quickly. Additionally, tiny areas will still require a narrow marker, crayon, or paintbrush. However, Kwik Stix are a wonderful new way to create art for children. 

A 12 pack of Kwik Stix is $11.99 and a 6 pack of Kwik Stix is $5.99.
You can also purchase Kwik Stix from Amazon ($11.95 for a 12 pack)

You can find The Pencil Grip, Inc. on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Now for some great news. I have been given the opportunity to offer a giveaway for 1 lucky person to win a 6 pack of Kwik Stix.

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 

There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. 

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning. 

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over. 

The giveaway runs December 11th through December 18th 2015.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

 By entering the giveaway, you understand and agree that your contact information will be shared with the sponsor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a 12 pack of Kwik Stix in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.