Mess free Painting with Little Brian Paint Sticks – REVIEW

#AD – Items gifted for review

Is there any such thing as mess free painting? Now, thanks to Little Brian Paint Sticks – I can safely say that I really believe there is!

Neve absolutely loves to paint. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that given the choice of doing absolutely anything in the world, she would pick to get out a paint brush, a little pot of water and paint every colour of the rainbow. The trouble is, my god does she make a mess. She often misses the paper and paints the table, the dirty water inevitably gets spilled, and the black brush gets dipped into the white paint, before being smeared or splattered all over her arms and face. As a result, I try and avoid painting where ever possible, which is a shame, as it’s a great form of educational play and far preferable than lots of screen time.

This week I was sent a bundle of Little Brian paint sticks to review, including their new Paint Sticks Classic Art Station, and Neve has well and truly put them through their paces. Read on to learn all about Little Brian paint sticks, and for your chance to WIN a Paint Sticks Bucket for your own mini Picassos, worth £12.99!

What are Little Brian paint sticks?

Little Brian paint sticks are mess free sticks of paint, that can be used for a range of different creative techniques including painting, stamping, blending and dotting. There is absolutely no need for brushes, water or any of the mess; you simply take off the lid, twist the dial up and down like a glue stick and get painting! Unlike traditionally painted masterpieces that have to be hung out to dry, Little Brian paint sticks dry in less than 60 seconds, meaning you don’t have to worry about spills, drips or smudges, and most importantly it stays on the paper, and not on your child’s skin or clothes!

Little Brian paint sticks are available to buy in a number of formats, including the 24 pack assorted, which comes with 12 classic colours, 6 day glow colours and Neve’s favourite, 6 metallic colours. This larger set retails at £14.99.

For art on the go, the handy Little Brian Paint Sticks Bucket retails at £12.99 and can be easily carried and transported by your child – ideal for those summer trips to see family or friends. The Little Brian paint sticks bucket includes 12 classic colours, 6 day glow colours and 2 metallic colours – silver and gold.

By far the biggest hit in this household however was the Little Brian Paint Sticks Classic Art Station – a double sided table top art station with a whiteboard and chalkboard, ideal for siblings or friends to get creative together. The set retails at £29.99 and comes with 6 classic paint sticks, 6 chalk sticks, 10 sheets of paper to start off their creations and 1 duster, which can be used to remove the chalk designs when damp.

Our Experience of Little Brian Paint Sticks

Neve was very happy to see the Little Brian Paints Sticks Classic Art Station, and as soon as she saw the packaging she knew that she was about to start painting and got herself all excited!

I have to be honest that the Classic Art Station doesn’t come with any instructions, and it did take me a little while to figure out how on earth to open it – it comes flat, and the whiteboard unclips to form a upside down V shape easel with chalk on one side and whiteboard on the other. The whiteboard has a small orange clip which can be used to hold the paper, although works best when there are a few sheets held in place and not just the one.

Neve set to work straight away, and very quickly figured out how to use the Little Brian Paint Sticks with no assistance whatsoever from me. From a parents point of view, I was really impressed with how quickly the paint dried, and the colours were vivid and strong, with thick bright shades being pressed onto the paper as she scribbled away.

The Little Brian Art Station comes with paints and chalks included, and there are little handy storage pockets so that the contents can be safely stashed away when not being used, or laid out in the small holes to make them stand up and be easily accessible when your child is in the middle of creating their designs.

The chalk sticks were really lovely, and unlike traditional chalks which tend to either a) snap or b) cause a powdery mess all over your little ones fingers, Neve had much more control over what she was doing with the chalk sticks, and really enjoyed creating a range of effects before wiping them away with her little duster. The duster needs to be dampened slightly before it fully wipes the chalk away, and again there were no instructions to state this, but we kind of figured it out for ourselves!

We did find that the easel did move away from the base a bit when she was wiping off her design on the chalkboard side, and therefore I did have to keep clipping it back into place, however from Neve’s perspective at least, this didn’t detract at all from her overall enjoyment of the product.

Over the last week we have tried out a range of techniques with the Little Brian Paint Sticks including painting (obviously), dotting (simply dabbing the paint stick to create small dots on the paper) and even stamping, cutting up apples and potatoes and painting the Little Brian Paint Sticks onto the stamp before printing away. All of these have been mess free, and Neve has loved every minute.

Overall, despite a couple of little niggles with the Little Brian Classic Art Station, we think the products are great. The girls have both enjoyed playing with them (and I *may* have had a little try myself – purely for quality testing purposes of course). I love that the Classic Art Station can be neatly packed away and taken out with you, and watching Neve carry it around like the proud little artist she is was super cute!

Want to win a Little Brian Paint Sticks Classic Art Station worth £29.99?

Head over to the Facebook post for your change to enter!

Our standard giveaway terms and conditions apply. UK Entries only. Giveaway opens 6th August 2019 and closes at 11.59pm 18th August 2019. GOOD LUCK!