Ad | Little Brian No-Mess Paint Sticks (and Chalk Sticks) Review Age 3+ (sent by Trends)

I think most parents know the joy of washing paint or chalk out of the carpet, and thinking of the mess you'll have to clean up can make you reluctant to get the art materials out. We've been sent a selection of fantastic products from the award-winning Little Brian Paint Sticks range for review. They are almost entirely mess-free, instant to use and easy to put away, and ideal for children of all ages. 

We were sent the Little Brian Mini Art Station, Little Brian Paint Sticks 24 Pack and the Little Brian Paint Sticks Paint-A-Puzzle - Fun at the Farm floor puzzle for review. I'll be launching a give away for a Mini Art Station over the next few days - keep an eye on my Facebook page.... 

The Little Brian Paint Sticks and Chalk Sticks come in a big variety of vibrant colours which can't spill, dry in under 60 seconds, and have a really simple twist action when you need more (like a lipstick or glue stick). They can be used on all kinds of surfaces, including paper, glass, card, and even wood. 

Craft is brilliant. We can have fun and make things we can be proud of. Children can express themselves and their interests, and they can make something personal to them, all the while building on manual dexterity and hand strength, coordination and confidence. Little Brian takes the hassle and stress out of what would usually be 'messy play'. 

First we took a look at the Little Brian Paint Sticks Mini Art Station (RRP £19.99). This is a folding double-sided art station with wipe clean whiteboard and chalkboard. It includes 6 Chalk Sticks, 6 mini Paint Sticks, 10 little sheets of A5 paper & 1 fluffy board wiping cloth. 

The Mini Art Station is very easy to carry around, get out and fold away between uses It's really very neat, and just slots into a groove to stay upright. There is a hidden storage space in the middle which is an excellent size and plenty big enough for whatever art materials you might need on the day. 

There are even clips for holding the small sheets of paper while you draw. It is quite lightweight, so not ideal for bigger or rougher kids. My sons actually got a better result when they laid it flat for use, rather than as an easel - their 'rubbing out' was a bit too vigorous. That fluffy cloth is brilliant though - way better than my old board rubber when I was teaching! 

Little Brian Paint Sticks Assorted Colours Pack of 24 (RRP £14.99, affiliate link). 24 different water-soluble Paint Sticks in a fantastic array of colours and colour types - 12 Classic, 6 Day-Glow and 6 Metallic. I love these. 

The colours are really varied in colour shade and depth, but all work incredibly well to give good coverage quickly and neatly. The Day-Glow colours work especially well on paper, and the metallic shades are brilliant for giving a large area a shimmery shade (some chalks as well as paints below). 

There are lots of ways you can use the Little Brian Paint and Chalk Sticks - including regular painting, scraping, stamping or dotting. You can wet your surface first to get a 'wash' effect, and you can blend, or layer colours to get different shades and effects.

We have a birthday coming up, and I'm a big recycler. The paint sticks gave me the opportunity to really quickly create something special - and personal - to wrap the present. You'd never attempt that with felt pens or crayons - you'd still be colouring next birthday. With the Little Brian Paint Sticks and no need to even fetch a brush, it feels like cheating. 

Paint and chalk are much kinder to non-artists than pencil or crayon. You can keep adding colour until you have something you are happy with. You can blend the colours with your fingers or a cloth, but the paint dries well within a minute, so even a left-hander like me doesn't smear their work -  unless it's on purpose and then it's called 'blending'. 

We were also sent the Little Brian Paint Sticks Paint-A-Puzzle - Fun at the Farm (RRP £9.99) . This is a really large (87cm x 58cm) 12 piece floor puzzle, ideal for younger artists and their helpers. Ordinarily something so large would be a huge endeavour, but the 6 included Little Brian Paint Sticks will make light work of colouring in something so big. 

There are lots of other new products available in the Little Brian range, including:
Little Brian Paint Sticks Bucket (RRP £12.99) with Little Brian 20 Assorted Paint Sticks in strong vibrant classic, metallic and fluorescent colours.
Little Brian Giant Paint Stick - 30 Assorted (RRP £19.99). A novelty storage solution including all 30 colours from the Little Brian range of paint sticks (12 classic, 6 day-glow and 12 metallic).

The Little Brian Paint Sticks range is available now from toy shops and stationers, including online at Amazon (affiliate links below). Prices vary, but start at under £8. Find out more about the whole range on the Little Brian website. 

We were sent our Little Brian products for review, and paid for some of the admin involved in running the giveaway etc. Amazon links are affiliate, which earns me a few pence 'thank you' if you buy through my link, but you don't pay any more. It all adds up to help keep the website running.