Thin Stix Creativity Pack -- my REVIEW

These days, it seems our busy schedules don't allow for much art or craft work.  When we have projects, the quicker the better it seems!  My girls were thrilled when we received our next product for review, the Thin Stix Creativity Pack by The Pencil Grip, Inc.  The big pack of colorful marker-looking things attracted the instant attention of my two girls, who are 13 and 17 years old :) 

Doesn't that just make you want to design something beautiful? 

They jumped right in, trying out the paint sticks.  Oh, did you catch that? PAINT STICKS, not markers!  They have a really smooth feel going on, and dry very quickly (90 seconds, according to the box!)  They are not a water-based marker, not even a marker, just solid tempera paint!  

The colors are great, this box contains 24 colors, twelve classic, six neon, and six "metalix"!  My girls set out right away, grabbing paper and doing some coloring and talking about what they like about these.  Statements such as this:

"The colors are nice, but some of them are a lot lighter than I'd think they would be."

"It feels so nice going onto the paper!"

"Oohhh my arm got smeared in it!"

"I forgot these are paint!"

"Oh, they dry so fast!"

"Look at this gold one!!"

"Oh hey, try this!"

Even my husband was intrigued, he looked them over and thought it was great that there is a white paint stick too! 

Ummmm, did you get the idea that these were a lot of fun for us?  :)  Okay, my 15-year old son wasn't too excited, but he's not really into craftish stuff :) 

Here are some of their favorites . . .

 

The box that the Thin Stix Creativity Pack comes in looks pretty childish, it's obvious that they're meant for younger kids (I think!).  The more the girls worked with them, they DID say that they thought they are meant for kids younger than themselves (they were coming up with lots of ideas of children we know who would love them!)  They found it difficult to do distinct edges, it was much easier to do broad filling strokes, perhaps that is a function of them being paint sticks -- it kind of wears down like lipstick does, if that makes sense.

I think that this product would be a great fun product for children of many different ages.  Just beware!  It DOES rub off on you if you accidentally drag your arm or hand through it before it has dried.  

My kids, who are in an older range, thought that these would be great for making things like posters or tabletops, like they do for some 4-H presentations.  The colors were a little light, but if you layer them, they darken up more.  They give a great quick end result.  (My youngest decided that if she were running for class president, she'd make a sign like this:

ummm, as a homeschooler, and therefore the only one in her
class, I'd hope she would win! :) :)

So--they're pretty cool, we liked them, not really a serious art product for my age of kids, but great fun for younger ones!  If you'd like to hear what other people thought about this Thin Stix Creativity Pack, please click on the link below!