So, there are some mums who absolutely love an afternoon of crafts with their children. Who have a natural ability to see the various uses for a cereal box and always have the recipe for paper mache in their mind – filed under ‘rainy day fun’. I am not one of those parents.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll get stuck in if homework demands it or the mood grabs my children but generally it’s not an activity you’ll see in my kitchen. Not just because I am creatively challenged and haven’t got a clue where to start but because the aftermath of an hour of painting leaves me needing a lie down in a dark room and don’t even get me started on glitter!
I hate the mess that comes with letting creativity loose and so when Little Brian (it’s a company not a person!) asked if I would like to try their no mess paint sticks I was keen to give them a go.
The sticks make some pretty pig promises – instant fun and less mess, suitable for all surfaces, convenient and easy to use. If anyone was going to give an honest review of these sticks of wonder it was my children so I agreed to receive some to try. Here’s the verdict.
All the fun. Less mess
Yes, I totally agree. I have never known my gang (my two sons, step son and step daughter) be so quiet. They were engrossed in their paintings and making recommendations on which colour to use next. They loved applying the paint sticks to damp sponges and adding the stamps to their free hand paintings. (Fear not creative virgins – home bargains sell sets of premade sponges for around 69p. No need to spend 
hours carving the potatoes!)
There were no water pots full of rapidly grey sludgy water trailing across the table from the paint brush (can you tell I’m not a fan?). The sticks simply roll up like a glue stick and glide effortlessly across the page. I would compare the texture of the paint to drawing with a lipstick – smooth and silky. (Please don’t try that at home. Lipsticks are expensive and not as easy to remove as paint sticks)
While the children enjoyed the sponge stamps, I released my inner Monet and tried smudging the paint with damp cotton wool. I really liked the resulting bleeding sunset on my page.
Easy and quick to set up and pack away
The paint sticks were out of the pack before the children were sitting around the table and they were packed away just as quickly as soon as we had finished. I just popped the lids on and replaced the sticks into the pack. No cleaning up and scrubbing dried paint off the table. Brilliant.
Compact portable and quick drying
The sticks are definitely something we will take with us on our travels. We often find ourselves in a caravan in Wales playing card games because of the unpredictable British weather so we all agreed that these would make a fantastic addition to the indoor play box without taking up much room at all.
The paints dried really quickly – so quick in fact that we were unable to blend some colours because we got distracted chatting so a top tip would be to blend it as soon as you can if you’re going for that effect. It really does look lovely. The metallic paints in particular revealed their shimmer more as they dried adding a little something extra to our art work.
Use on paper, board and even glass
We used the paint sticks on sketching paper and with sponges as I have mentioned. When I told the children that they were apparently suitable for drawing on windows, they all loved the idea of being graffiti artists for a few minutes on my patio doors. One child stood outside while the other drew an interpretation of their portrait on the inside. The images aren’t really clear because of the lighting but they all loved that they could draw on the glass and the paints were really easy to clean off afterwards!
Other bonuses
My son Harry is autistic and can get frustrated at times. A couple of times, he banged the paint sticks onto his paper 
and ‘scribbled’ across the page. With paints, this would have resulted in splattered paint everywhere and a pot or two being knocked over but actually the effect he got from applying pressure with the paint sticks looked pretty cool. It was lovely to see him enjoying himself without having to be at his side constantly which meant I could paint with the others too. It also meant that I got to have a go at painting a picture myself which I found really relaxing.
I asked the children what their favourite aspect of the paint sticks were.
Bea (12) “I enjoyed using the sponges”
Bea (12) “I enjoyed using the sponges”
Harrison (9) “I like that you can use them on your windows and it just rubs off”
Oliver (12) “I like the way the paint is really smooth”My gang are a tough crowd when it comes to reviews but they really enjoyed using the paint sticks and we would all highly recommend them for no mess – high fun entertainment! Thanks Little Brian.
Chat soon,
Charlie xx
I was sent the Little Brian paint sticks in exchange for my honest review.
CLICK BELOW TO WIN TWO SETS OF NO MESS PAINT STICKS
FREE GIVEAWAY Little Brian paint sticks – no mess, just fun!
A unicorn as my daughter loves them!
Ooooo the metallic paints would look amazing for a unicorn! I tried to draw my step daughter as a unicorn but it just looked like she was wearing a party hat. Epic fail! Good luck C x
I would paint our garden flowers
Ah thats lovely! Good luck C x
i think my girls would have me drawing animals, mainly cats 🙂
I found it really therapeutic painting with them. It was lovely. No mess helped too of course! Good luck C x
My boys would probably draw cars and dinosaurs x
They could dinosaurs IN the car with these (on the glass not the seats haha) Good luck! Cx
I would paint lots of different dinosaurs with my kids.
The green and brown paints would look fab on dinosaur! Good luck Cx
We would paint a multicolour kitten!
That would be super cute!! Good luck C x
I don’t have any children but would love to win this prize for charity, to go to Romania.
Oh wow what a great idea! Good Luck! Cx
Ellie loves drawing and painting the flowers in our garden
How lovely and relaxing! Good Luck for Ellie C x
I’d love to paint some animals
Any particular ones? Good Luck! C x
Flowers and rainbows
Lovely! Good luck C x
I would paint a seaside scene with my grandson.
Awww I bet he’d love that. He might want a trip to the real thing afterwards though! 🙂 Good Luck Cx
The metallic paint sticks would be fabulous for drawing lots of cars and tractors.
I definitely agree! Good luck C x
A GIRAFFE WITH POSH TOENAILS FOR MY GRAND DAUGHTER
Haha I do hope those toe nails would be glittery 🙂 Good Luck C x
Lots of animals
Fab! Good Luck C x
I think my girls would draw a princess castle
Aww yes. Every Princess needs a castle. Good Luck! C x
My daughter would probably draw dogs and catd
Cute. Good Luck! C x
I’d paint a lovely rainbow like I used to add a kid. My 3 year old is obsessed with them at the moment too.
I love a good rainbow! Good luck Cx
Would paint Princesses with my Granddaughter, she would love these, so would we, not so messy as pots of paint
Yes I loved them for that. Lots of fun, none of the mess! Good Luck C x
Mermaids and unicorns.
Sounds magical! Good luck C x
Most probably car’s knowing my boy.
I dont think boys ever grow out of that! Good Luck C x
We would Christmassy things! It’s end July and my three year old is counting down to Christmas already…
Oh no! Haha. A couple more months and you’ll be needing the argos catalogue! Good Luck C x
I would paint a family portrait
Awww I love that! Good Luck C x
Cats in the garden!
Cute! Good luck! C x
probably the dog! the children love painting pictures of her
Awww what type do you have? We have a Bichon Frise and love him to bits. Good Luck Cx
A Spinosaurus for my dinosaur=obsessed son!
Cute! Good luck! C x
My daughter has just mastered drawing people. They look like spuds with stick arms. Sooook cute. We would draw a family portrait
Awwww I really love that idea! You should do that anyway! Good Luck. C x
MY little girl would paint dinosaurs or robots
Or a robot dinosaur! Good Luck! Cx
What would you paint a picture of if you won the paint sticks? . . . . l would let my grandsons’ imagination run riot
Who knows what the result of a young imagination would be 🙂 Good luck Cx
I think me and V would paint houses, that’s all she ever wants to paint anyway!
Pictures of or interiors? Haha. Good luck! C x
My little boy says he would paint a flower for Grandma
Awwww thats lovely. Good Luck! Cx
well i’d attempt to paint a picture of a digger for my son.
I would grab all the kids and we would paint/make a fairy garden
superheros as my son is superhero made x 🙂 x
Mine too! Good luck! C x
I would paint unicorns
Lovely! Good luck! C x
We would paint a cooker for my granddaughters playhouse
Fab! Good Luck! C x
Lots of animals
Fab! Good Luck! Cx
A picture of Peppa Pig for my granddaughter
Awwww my son used to love Peppa Pig! Good luck C x
I would paint trees and flowers
Lovely! Good luck Cx
I’m no good at drawing but love making patterns. These would be perfect for that.
They definitely would! Good luck Cx
id paint a dinosaur
My son would probulary paint an underwater scene with lots of fish…he’s fish mad!
Grandson would try drawing super hero’s, he would do a better job of it than me
My son loves drawing dinosaurs
Butterflies
I would paint stars and hearts and my son would probably paint an Octonaut or 3 x
I would definitely paint a frog 😀
I think we would start with a robot.
My twins love Lions so we would paint lions in the Jungle
My twins love Lions so we would paint lions in the Jungle
A zoo with loads of animals
An apple tree because I am good at those!
A picture of Scooby Doo with my grandson.
oooh not me, I’ve not got an artistic bone in my body, I’d mess up a stick man, they would be for my daughter who would no doubt paint lots of pretty flowers for me
i’d paint some lovely flowers
Some shopkins for my daughter
I am teaching the children about wild and domesticated birds so we would paint those.
I’d paint flowers and trees xx
sun sparkling on the sea at the beach