Cameo has reached the age where he loves colouring and painting. He loves choosing the colours and making a right old mess. It’s great fun to watch and be part of, but no so fun clearing up after it all. I feel bad if I always make him use pencils… they don’t seem as much fun as paint or pens, right? So when we were sent a box of Little Brian Paint sticks to review I couldn’t wait to see what Cameo made of them… and how much mess he’d make more to the point!
Well, I have to say we were both impressed. Little Brian Paint Sticks look like giant crayons but are actually handheld paints. You can use them as they are for drawing which means no messy water, paint pots or paintbrushes. Hooray! (If you want to use water you can and that turns the painting into a watercolour kind of thing!) You can use the paint sticks for stamping (we painted some potatoes and used them), blending, dotting and scraping – it’s great because the paint dries SO quickly. There are so many colours to choose from, Cameo is pretty happy with his favourite colours yellow and red but you can get everything from metallics to DayGlo!
The Paint Sticks Art Station has gone down a storm in our house. It’s like a little tabletop easel with a wipeable board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. You can clip paper on (you’ll have to clip a lot to keep in place) but I really love that it’s a wipe board, it even comes with a cloth to clean it. That to me is the definition of mess-free play! It’s a fab little set and comes with all you need for the ultimate messy playtime. 6 Classic Paint Sticks, 6 Chalk Sticks, 10 sheets of paper and 1 duster are all included. There’s lot’s of little storage too so you can literally pack it all away when you’re finished and slide it somewhere out of sight (it goes under our sofa haha). It is a little fragile if leant on too hard, but it finds if you pop something in between to keep it up. It’s available from Argos and is a really great gift for keeping little ones entertained.
The Little Brian Paint Sticks Bucket is a fab way to stary off with the paint sticks and to find out if they’ll work for you. You get 20 in total – 12 Classic Colours, 6 Day Glow Colours, 2 Metallic Colours – Silver & Gold. A really varied pack of super silky paints. It’s also Made from recyclable plastic which is a big tick in my eyes. It’s £12.99 available from Argos but if you head over to my Facebook page there’s a chance to win your own Little Brian Paint Sticks Bucket!
We love the fact that The Little Brian Paint Sticks really do reduce the mess when it comes to arts and crafts but don’t skimp on any of the fun. The colours are bright and vibrant, the ticks are versatile and last for ages. If you use these, they replace the pens, pencils and crayons you’ve got hanging around because they do everything they do but it one stick!
