I am not a “crafty mama” by any stretch of the imagination. However, since I think that it’s great to expose kids to a bit of everything when they’re young, I do various art projects with my kids. (I’m not especially creative, but I can follow directions!) So, when Powder Art sent me their “Jungle Animals” kit to review, I wondered how the project would go.
Powder Art is recommended for kids who are ages five+ because it has small stickers on it that can be a little difficult for little ones to peel off. (A few of them were hard for me – an adult- to peel off!) I still think that you can do this art project with kids younger than five if you do it together though.
In theory, the project only has three steps: Peel it, Paint it and Display it. It’s a little bit more work than that though. First you have to get the various paint colors ready. I used the little divider that came with the kit. I poured the powder into the different sections. Some of it got mixed together, but that was okay. Then, you peel away the various numbers (darker ones first). Each number corresponds to a color. For the most part, the stickers are easy to peel, but you’ll probably need to help your kids with the smaller pieces. When a section is peeled, the kids use either the (included) brush or their fingers to pat the color on to the adhesive. They keep going until each number is powdered in and the picture is complete. My 5 year old son Michael really enjoyed this project. A few times throughout, he would declare “I’m an artist!” (Okay, why not?) His only (minor) disappointment is that he thought that there would be some type of frame inside to display his work of art. I thought the same thing based on the box cover, but we were both wrong.
I wouldn’t say that this product is mess-free, but it’s close. (Near the end, Michael accidentally knocked over the color palette tray with the powder in it. ) However, I don’t really expect any arts and crafts type of project to be completely mess-free. Overall, I recommend Powder Art as a fun, new arts and crafts activity for kids. Michael and I are looking forward to creating our next “masterpiece”. Currently Powder Art is available at select specialty locations and www.PowderArt.com at approximately $9.99/kit.
