Kwik Stix - Or, Hello Messless Painting

My family received the chance to review Kwik Stix 12 Pack from The Pencil Grip, Inc.. If you are not familiar with Kwik Stix 12 Pack, let me share that with you. Kwik Stix is a solid tempera paint product. They roll up and down similar to a glue stick and are completely mess free. No, seriously, I rubbed my fingers across my son's paintings and nothing, and I do mean nothing, came off on my fingers.
Kwik Stix 12 Pack is real tempera paint, so you get the deeper color and coverage that you would expect from the liquid form we all know and love hate because of the mess. They dry in 90 seconds, though they didn't rub off on our skin in far, far less time than that. There would be smearing if you rubbed the painting before the 90 seconds. You can use them on paper, poster board, cardboard, wood, and more. 

As you can see, the Kwik Stix 12 Pack comes with a nice rainbow assortment of colors, including white. We pulled these out of the box the minute they came to our home, my boys were excited to use them. Since they pulled them out so fast I didn't have paper ready for them so they painted on the back of the shipping box. Hey, an artist finds a canvas anywhere he is.  Next we pulled out the included paperwork to check it out and see if there were any rules for use. I mean, mess free painting had to have those stipulations you expect. Mess free only if ... fill in a list of rules that make it impossible to really be mess free. Nothing, no rules existed, just open, twist, and have fun.  We noticed they included a small practice sheet, if you will. It had a very simple dot-to-dot just to let your child familiarize himself with the feel of the paint stick. 

Next Daddy drew my younger son a basic picture to let him start practicing right away. Our son was ready to get started. He drew a large face for him to create with and customize. 

One thing we noticed when he was painting the hair was that if you painted with a lighter touch, you actually got a lighter color of the paint and if you painted with a heavier hand, you got a darker color of paint. That was a nice unexpected benefit.

Oh, another tip we discovered was if you want a truly lighter shade of the color, paint with the color you want. Let it dry for the full 90 seconds. Then paint over it with the white stick. This will make it a lighter shade, lightness depends on how much white you apply.

So, did he like it? Yes. He immediately flipped the page once he was done with the face and drew a tractor to paint. 

We used a nicer end pad for these pictures, but even printer paper could have handled the paint since it's not wet when applied. As you can see my son is wearing a turquoise shirt. Once he was done painting, he still had a turquoise shirt and clean hands. I let him sit on my sofa to paint and my sofa is still brown even with pink, red, and green paints being used. 
So, what did we think overall? Here's our pro and con list: Pros:

• 100% mess free. They weren't kidding on this one. 
• Almost completely smell free. I have a very scent sensitive nose and had to smell hard and long to even get a whiff of anything. 
• Bright colors that truly give you the feel of real tempera paint. 
• These would be GREAT for travel. You wouldn't have to worry about any mess and they are fun. 
• If I had to make a poster or paint a large area on a canvas, this would be my first choice. It would be perfect for that situation if you were an adult and wanted to use them as well. 

Cons:

• We would have liked a few more color choices, but what was provided was a very good assortment, so I have a hard time putting this as a con.
• Detail work wouldn't happen with this, at least not for kids my kids age. Maybe if you had the dexterity if a teen or so you could work a detailed paint job. I liken it to fat kindergarten crayon is to typical thin Crayons as these are to a paint brush. 

Want to add just one more fun thing about The Pencil Grip, Inc.? They sent one of their fun pencil grips for our family to try. After all, that's what they're known for, ergonomic pencil grips. I personally liked the grip and feel of this one they sent to us and use it on my pencils.

If you want to know more about Kwik Stix or The Pencil Grip, Inc., you can check them out at their online resources below:

The Pencil Grip, Inc. Website

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Twitter @ThePencilGrip

You can also order these on Amazon at Kwik Stix 12 Pack Amazon Page

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