I've always loved getting crafty with the kids and I love love love that they both adore art and spend hours drawing, colouring and painting. This Summer holidays will be largely filled with arts and crafts as it's such a handy time filler and keeps the kids amused. I get to do some art with them, so it's great all round and we can even do it out in the garden or local park. We have a pretty good stash of craft supplies, but you can never have too much stationary can you?
We were recently asked to join Maped Helix as ambassadors this summer, which means we get to try out some of the latest products and share them with you all right here. Helix have been the staple (stationary pun, yes!) supplier of art and writing supplies my whole life, so we are really excited to be on board with this great brand and see what they have for us to try out. In fact, Helix have been doing their thing for over 130 years, so they really have the experience to make awesome goods for us all to get creative with.
Our first parcel arrived recently with some very very cool art supplies for the kids to try out, including colouring pens, pencils and art kits that are all much more fun than the norm, with special touches, high quality products and best of all, bold bright colours that last well and are easy to use for little hands.
Maped Color Peps Jungle Innovation Felt Pen Set
Up first is this felt tip set which has some very cool features. Aside from the 12 bright lovely felt tips themselves, is a rubber storage 'pot' that pops out to stand on a desk, splaying the pens out in a pretty display. This rubber part can then be closed, which keeps all the pens together, encourages them to put the lids on and put them in the right place and also acts as a built in pencil case for easy transportation and storage. I love this!
If you're a parent or probably pretty much any human, then you've no doubt tried cheap felt tips that barely scrape colour onto the page and dry out in days? These pens are another level, they retail at just a few pounds, so are still a very affordable option, perfect for home use or gifts for others and work like an absolute dream. These are worth every penny and aren't they just the coolest?
Maped Helix Color Peps Animal Print Colouring Pencils
Next up is a set of 12 Color Peps animal colouring pencils. Again, not scratchy but bright lovely to use colours. Each pencil has an animal pattern on it, from peacock feathers to snake skin (printed not real!) which not only look great, but also inspire our little ones to try drawing and colouring new textures and patterns.
These are so pretty and again would be a lovely gift with a colouring book alongside, they are special to look at, different and nice to use.
These are so pretty and again would be a lovely gift with a colouring book alongside, they are special to look at, different and nice to use.
Color Peps My First Colouring Kit
Up next is the Color Peps My First Colouring Kit, featuring an owl face carry case, ten jumbo felt tips, a giant illustrated poster to colour in and 12 jumbo crayons. This is suitable for ages one and up and both kids at three and six love this set and for me, anything that comes with it's own storage is a major plus! Again, these are fab quality so are built to last, with the carry case that can be used for years to come.
The case is such a cute addition and it really contains everything needed for our little artists to get creative. The case is chunky and easy to grip for tiny hands as well as being very easy to open and close which is always a good thing. I love the jumbo pens and crayons which make it even easier for little ones to grip while they draw and colour. The kids have agreed to share this, but I think I'll be getting another for Soph as they both love it and it's a great addition to the playroom and craft stash.
Color Peps Gel Smoothy Crayons
Another fun little case of colour is this Gel Smoothy crayon set, with six bold chunky colours that go onto paper really smoothly and easily and can even be smudged using fingers to blend colours and are water soluble for even more fun.
The colours are all very vivid and make for some fun picture making. Being able to smudge the colours together means that Alf has been able to create beautiful rainbows and experiment with new techniques which has added another dimension to his drawing and colouring.
Again, I love that these have their own case, so they can be used, re capped and stored neatly to save them getting lost. These are a real bargain and just add something a little extra than the normal colouring pens and crayons.
We've really enjoyed trying out this first kit from Maped Helix and can't wait to see what else they come up with. With the Summer holidays coming up, I need all the help I can get to keep the kids occupied and I can see that these will all be coming out frequently through the holidays to keep them busy.
To see more of the range of products for all ages, you can visit the Maped Helix website. I've popped some affiliate links to these products below if you'd like to read more reviews or try them out for yourself.
Do your kids enjoy art too?
* We were gifted the products to review as part of our ambassadorship with Maped Helix. All thoughts, words and images are my own.
