Kidzaw Master Kitz The Starry Night ~ Review

Since my girls love to paint and create their own artistic pictures, I knew they would enjoy creating a masterpiece from Kidzaw.com by using the Master Kitz The Starry Night kit.

The Starry Night kit came with the following:

• Custom Acrylic Paints (child friendly)

• Custom Oil Pastels (child friendly)

• 1 van Gogh Roller specially designed to replicate van Gogh’s active stroke

• 1 re-usable Starry Night Cyprus Stencil

• 1 standard paint roller

• 2 pieces deluxe art paper

• 1 low tack “Mesmerizing Stars” sticker sheet

• Fun, easy-to-understand van Gogh learning materials

• Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions

My daughters decided to work on this project together. They took out all of the supplies from the box and set everything up before starting. My oldest read through each step of the directions while she and my seven year old worked on each step together.

They put on the “reusable” sticker stars, but after they had painted the poster board, they could not get the stickers to come off easily. The poster board ripped and some of the stickers also started to rip. I’m not sure if they used too much paint or if they were to wait for it to dry before taking the stickers off. The instructions never said to let the paint dry on any of the steps, so they kept on working without letting anything dry.

After taking the stickers off, they then used the supplied stencil to make the houses. They both enjoyed this part because it was simple and fast. After using the stencil, they used the oil pastels to create the stars and shade in some of the foreground.

Although, it didn’t turn out exactly how it supposed to, my girls did enjoy creating this work of art. They also read through the included pamphlet about Vincent Van Gogh and was able to learn more about the artist.

They did have a lot of fun using the kit and working together. They said they would love to try out more of the kits and create more masterpieces. They are going to try to make The Starry Night one more time with the other piece of poster board that was included to see if they can somehow get it to turn out a little bit better.

I though this kit was a great way to introduce children to various artists and be able to create the artists famous works. The kits would make a great gift for someone that loves art. These kits would also be great to use in a homeschool when studying different artists. It would be great to have a collection for you and your child to enjoy over the years.

My girls would give this kit 4 stars since the stars ripped and the directions were not clear on if they should let the paint dry before going to the next step.

Overall – they loved creating this masterpiece and would love to create more!They have already asked to get another kit to try out. They may find one under the Christmas tree.

Be sure to click below to see what other crew members thought of The Starry Night kit.

Zirrly Super Beads Review

My children always love to create things. They will gather items from around the house and make something out of it. They also love animals. They will draw and color animals and they also have many stuffed animals that they love. They have been wanting to create things with some type of bead craft for a while now. I have always said no in the past, because it seemed like it would be a lot of work for me and having to deal with a hot iron wasn’t something I wanted to do. I have never let my kids play with beads or any type of small item that requires some adult help. I was happy to hear that we would be able to try out the Jungle Animals Super Beads from Zirrly.

One of my girls favorite animals is the zebra. They also love  elephants and lions. When I saw that Zirrly had a Jungle Animals Super Beads set, I knew that they would love it. And I was right. When the package arrived, my six year old exclaimed, “This is going to be awesome!”

What are super beads? They are soft, pliable beads that have the same concept as the hard perler beads that you have to iron for them to fuse. Super beads take only water for them to fuse. Since super beads use water to fuse, there is no hot iron to deal with and minimum adult help is needed.

Super beads fit snugly onto the board and don’t move around while you are working. The template for the animal goes underneath the board so you can see where to put the colors.  Super beads are also simple to put into place as you are working. The directions are easy to follow and after completing your picture and spraying with water, you will have a soft, pliable animal in a short time. The directions say it takes around 60 minutes for it to dry. We checked around the 60 minute mark and they were not ready, so we went ahead and left them overnight and checked the next day.

Our kit came with a clear plastic divided tray. We were able to pour out each color we were using which made it easier to do the project. The directions tell you that there is a line on the bead and that line needs to be at the top when doing the project. At first, we didn’t notice the line and we got carried away with wanting to try them out that we didn’t read the instructions carefully. I think it really does make a difference in which way the beads are placed. It did take a little bit more time to make sure they were placed correctly, but it was worth the extra time. My six year old daughter made the owl and I made the monkey. My daughter put the beads on randomly and I made sure the beads were placed on the tray properly. As you can see from the picture, the owl broke apart when taking it off, but the monkey stayed together. I used the same amount of water on each and they dried for the same amount of time (about 24 hours). I don't think placing the beads the wrong way caused the owl to break and I sprayed them with the same amount of water, so I really don't know why it broke. But, I personally would take the time to make sure the beads are placed with the line up as recommended in the instructions.

Other than not reading directions at first, we didn’t run into any major problems that would prevent us from using super beads again. We all enjoyed putting the animals together and had fun while doing them.

Also, the directions aren’t very clear on how much water to use, so it is trial and error with that. We may have under or over sprayed some of them, but I think I was able to gauge about how much to use after we got the hang of it. The colors from the beads also rub off onto the skin, but it washes off very easily with soap and water.

Overall, we were all pleased with how easy it is to place the beads, spray, and wait. We all loved the animals that came in the Jungle Animals set, but my kids said they would love to make their own creations next time. They enjoyed making the animals and played with them after they were done. We highly recommend Zirrly Super Beads, especially if you are looking for something fun and new to do with your kids. We will definitely be using Super Beads again in the future and we give them 5 stars!

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Magic Stix Markers ~ Review

I am always on the lookout for great art products for my children to use on their projects. My kids love to draw, color, and make different creations with items from around the house. Over the past several weeks, our family has been enjoying Magic Stix Washable Markers from The Pencil Grip, Inc.

The Pencil Grip, Inc is a company that sells many products. We have reviewed their Kwik Stix in the past and we love using those since they dry so fast. We have also reviewed and used the pencil grips they have designed.

When I first saw that they had markers now, I was hoping to be able to review them or buy them for my children to use. One thing that I noticed was that these markers won’t dry out if the cover gets left off accidentally or doesn’t get put on tight.

Magic Stix 24 pack comes in a nice plastic case that also has handles for easier carrying. They are odorless, washable, and non-toxic. They guarantee that they will not dry out for seven days and I don’t know of any other company that has that same guarantee for their markers.

I started to do the 7 day test but would forget to test the marker, so I just left the cap off for 7 days and at the 7 days mark the marker was still working just the same as it had on the first day. These markers color in such vibrant colors and are so bright and bold. We love all of the colors that come in the 24 pack. There are several different variations of greens, purples, blues, yellows, and reds. There is also black, brown, and gray.

We have enjoyed using the markers on coloring pages. One thing we noticed is that they do bleed through, so we just put a sheet of paper underneath the coloring page. Also, if we colored too much in one spot the page would start to rip.  I tried using them on cardstock paper and they did not bleed through. I think if we were to do more coloring pages, I would print on cardstock so we wouldn’t have to worry about it bleeding through or the page ripping.

We have all enjoyed using the markers, even my 14 year old son colored with us girls.

Our favorite thing about the 24 pack is the variety of colors. There are so many to choose from for us to get our pages just the way we wanted them to look. We also liked that the colors are so bright and vibrant. We also like that these markers won’t dry out if left uncovered. My 6 year old sometimes has difficulty getting the cover on tight and we won’t notice until we use them again. With other brands, we were left with a marker that didn’t work if the cover was left off or not on tight. With the Magic Stix, we never had to worry about it. The markers worked every time!

We give Magic Stix Washable Markers 5 stars!

Thin Stix Creativity Pack Review

Having reviewed Kwik Stix and Thin Stix in the past, we were excited to be chosen to review the Thin Stix Creativity Pack from The Pencil Grip, Inc. We love these paint sticks because they dry quickly and are easy to clean up.

The thin stix creativity packs comes with twenty four different colors to choose from. There are twelve assorted colors, six metalix colors, and six neon colors. They range from dark green to bright orange and everything in between.

I wanted to try something different this time and I saw these 5X7 canvases at the store. I used one to create a keepsake from my six year old daughter. I drew her hand on a piece of paper and cut it out. Then, I traced it onto the canvas with a pencil. After I copied it with pencil, I traced it with the black thin stix to outline the turkey. I used the metalix colors for the “feathers” and used the brown and red for the other part of the turkey. I added the year to it and used the gold metalix color on the outside for a frame.

My six year old daughter used one of the canvases to create the scene to the right. She had started out with something different, but messed up, so she went with a nature theme.

The paints dry quickly, so we didn’t have to let one part  dry for hours before working on another part. Although, it did take a little more time to dry on the canvas than it does on paper, we were still able to finish our projects in under thirty minutes (which included drawing, painting, and drying).

My twelve year old daughter made the painting on the left. She was going for an autumn theme. I think I would title it “Falling Leaves.”

It is so easy to use colors on top of colors without having to wait a long time for them to dry since the thin stix dry quickly.

We also used the thin stix on paper and drew some things to check out all of the colors.

I’m thinking of buying more little canvases to use to draw Christmas scenes onto. It would make a cute gift for a grandparent. Another idea is to buy a bigger canvas that you could write a Bible verse or quote onto and draw a little picture to go with it. The thin stix are thin enough that you can use them to write with, but they are also great for coloring in a drawing too.

I just quickly made up the picture on the left so you can see how these are used to write and would look great on a canvas or maybe a piece of wood.

There are so many ways to use the thin stix and the creativity pack gives you so many colors to choose from. These stix will always be number one in our house for creating, drawing, and making gifts.

You could even buy these kids art supplies for the artist in your family to give to them as a Christmas present.

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ACTÍVA Products Review

We love creating things, but we mostly color or paint because everything else can get quite messy. I love finding out about new art supplies to be able to use with my kids. We were given the opportunity to review Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit from ACTÍVA Products. We also received a free pdf download to their e-book ACTÍVA Products' Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS. The e-book is filled with ideas on projects to make with the rigid wrap and celluclay.

What are ACTÍVA products? ACTÍVA products are products that you are able to use to create a lot of different art products. The possibilities are endless. You can make anything from a simple butterfly with the rigid wrap to more complex sculptures using the celluclay.

Ridgid Wrap is a plaster cloth that allows you to use only what you need for a project. It is simple to use by cutting the roll into strips, dipping into water, and applying it to a cardboard (or any material) cutout shape. It dries quickly and can even be put into the microwave to allow it to dry even quicker. When it dries, it is hard just like plaster, but much simpler to use.

CelluClay is an instant paper mache that is used by simply adding water to the product. It adheres to most any type of material. Once it is mixed, you can store this indefinitely in the refrigerator.

We used this product by going through the projects listed in the e-book. We looked for an easy beginner project to do. Since my girls like butterflies, they decided to try the butterfly project. It was simple to cut the shape from cardboard using the template. I then helped them cut some rigid wrap pieces to use. We got a bowl of water and started applying. It was easy to do, but my 6 year old needed some help to make sure it went on smooth. The first layer dried quickly (we waited about 30 minutes) and then they applied the second layer and formed the head and body of the butterfly. When we finished the second layer, we decided to wait overnight to let it dry before painting. My girls had fun painting the butterflies different colors and making them their own.

My girls liked creating their butterflies and they are looking forward to creating more things. We liked this product because it easy to use and it is not messy. I love letting my kids create things, but do not like when there is a mess to clean up. I always overlooked art projects that required a lot of time and money and mess. This product is fast drying, easy on the pocket book, and doesn't create a lot of mess. So this product will definitely be a keeper for us. I look forward to helping all of my kids create some beautiful masterpieces.

The website offers lesson plans that look like something we could use throughout the year. The projects range from simple to complex.

ArtAchieve ~ Review

Having children who love art, but not being able to draw anything myself, I am always on the lookout for good art programs for our homeschool. For the past few weeks, we have been using the Entire Level I from ArtAchieve.

What is ArtAchieve?
ArtAchieve is a series of online courses that was developed by John Hofland. The project was created when John and his wife were homeschooling their children. He had a career in arts and language arts and has visited over 30 countries which helped in the development of the program.

What is included in Entire Level I?
There are eleven lessons included in level I. The first two lessons are free on the website for any one to try out before buying. The lessons include:

• Simple Lines (free)
• The Czech Cat (free)
• The Hungarian Insects
• The Haitian Gecko
• The Dragonfly from Ecuador
• The Chinese Dragon
• The Owl from Bali
• The Kitenge Tree Wall Hanging from Tanzania
• The Plate from Nepal
• Four Suns with Four Faces
• The Sheep from Wales

Not only do you learn how to draw in the lessons you also get a history lesson. For example, in The Hungarian Insects lesson, we were given some background about these insects in Hungary. We were also given facts about insects.

You are given the choice to watch a video of the lesson or to go through a power point of the lesson. We chose to use the power point for each lesson. Each lesson starts off with learning about the country or object you are drawing.

Then, it tells you what supplies are needed and gives some relaxation tips. For the warm up, you print off a warm up page to become familiar with the lines in the drawing.

After doing the warm up, the slides go through each step to create your masterpiece. When you are finished drawing, you are to add color to your drawings.

The supplies needed for level I are simple. A fine point permanent marker, markers, watercolors, oil pastels, and liquid acrylic paint to name a few. You can click here and then click on each lesson to see the needed supplies. Each lesson takes about 60 minutes to complete from start to finish. The videos last about 25 minutes. It can be more or less depending on how fast or slow you want to go through the lesson.

A sample of our drawings:

What we thought about ArtAchieve:
We loved it.  We loved learning the background behind each drawing. We loved learning the facts about the insects and geckos. And, we loved our drawings and how simple and easy these lessons are to follow.

Several things I like about this art program:

• I, the teacher, do not have to know how to draw. In fact, I did the drawings with my kids and I think my drawings came out good. See my gecko below on the right.

• It really is a relaxing experience. My kids did not become frustrated with not knowing how to do the drawing. They loved the step by step directions.
• It is planned out. You only need to buy the supplies before hand. 
• Your child can work independently.
• You are given a 1 year license for each lesson you purchase. You can go through the lesson as many times in a year as you want and create it differently each time.

We definitely give this art course a 5 star rating!

ARTistic Pursuits: The Way They See It ~ Review

Many of the reviews that I do are geared for my older children. My three year old sometimes feels left out. She loves to color, draw, and paint. When I saw that ARTistic Pursuits was an upcoming review, I started praying that there would be something on the list especially for preschoolers. When I actually saw that the preschool book, The Way They See It (Preschool), was a choice, I started praying again. I knew my three year old would love this book.

What is ARTistic Pursuits?

ARTistic Pursuits is an art curriculum designed for homeschoolers. They want children to be creative while also learning how to observe things. They combine all of the components of fine art by engaging the students as they explore the different aspects of art.







ARTistic Pursuits offers curriculum for Preschool through High School.They have also recently just released two brand new books about Sculpture Technique: Construct and Sculpture Technique: Model.

The preschool book, The Way They See It, which I reviewed with my three year old, is geared for children ages 3-5. It sells for $47.95. This book contains 26 lessons plus 10 additional projects.























This book is spiral bound, soft cover, and has many colorful illustrations. It includes a table of contents page that lists all of the lessons. It also includes a materials page that lists all of the materials needed for the entire book. You can also purchase a Preschool Art Pack from their website if you are not able to find the materials where you live.

How I used The Way They See It:

When the book first arrived, I glanced through it to see the different lessons. My daughter is a young three having just turned three in March, so I wanted to make sure the lessons would not be too difficult. The only thing that caught my attention was the usage of scissors (I'll tell you about this later). Everything else seemed fun and easy enough for her to do.

 Each lesson has three parts: Grown-up Talk, Picture Talk, and Art Project. (As seen to the left the project is called Discover Art Project.)

I would read the Grown-up talk ahead of time, usually the night before I did the art lesson with my daughter.

The next day, I would sit down with her and discuss the picture under Picture Talk. There are question prompts for you to ask your child. My daughter is observant and could point out most of the things in the picture that was being asked. For example, "A little bug crawls out of one of the flowers. Can you find it?" She looked all over the picture until she saw the little bug crawling out of the flower.

The final part of the lesson was the art project. These can be anywhere from coloring to painting to sculpting with play-dough.  My daughter loved doing the art projects. She would get so excited when I pulled everything out.We did a lesson a week.

This project the child was suppose to draw a picture in the paint with their fingers, but she didn't quite understand even after I showed her. I just let her have fun doing her own thing.

Here she was to create something out of play-dough. We made our own play-dough from a website I found in a Google search. I didn't have cream of tartar so I needed a recipe that didn't use one. I found a fast and easy play-dough recipe on From The Mrs. blog.

Making her creation. And in case you haven't noticed, her favorite color is yellow. :)

Her play-dough creation!
















Finally, about the scissors. The lessons at the end of the book are called First Skills. It mentions using scissors, how to hold a pencil, gluing and taping, and paint brushes. I went to the store and was going to just buy some blunt tip scissors. When I was looking at the scissors, I noticed that they had come out with scissors that have a spring action (see below).


I decided to go ahead and buy them and see how she handled them. It took her a few times of me showing her how to hold them properly, but she got the hang of it and can now cut great using these scissors.









My opinion of The Way They See It:

My daughter and I loved this book. She would start jumping up and down getting excited when I pulled the book and the materials out for the day. I liked how the lessons are set up. They are so simple to follow and it gets the parent and child to interact with each other. I also liked that they would ask specific questions about the pictures/paintings in the book that made the child really have to look at each and observe what was going on. I also liked that the art projects were fairly simple. I would definitely give this preschool curriculum 5 stars!