Some kids are naturally creative and others are not, so we were looking forward to trying out this do-it-yourself painting project called Master Kitz The Starry Night by Kidzaw.com.
WHAT IS IT?:
Master Kitz The Starry Night is a do-it-yourself painting kit that helps kids (and adults if you wish) recreate their own version of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night
This kit and others in the series can be purchased for just $22.26. There are sufficient supplies included that with careful use of the stickers, you can create this project twice!
OUR EXPERIENCE:
First of all, I love that this kit includes everything you need to complete this project twice. Anyone with more than one child knows that what one does, the other usually wants to do, too!
My two younger kids are a daughter who is 14 and a son who is 10. My daughter is very artistic and paints well without any aids, but my son has no artistic talent whatsoever! I had intended for him to be the first one to try out this kit, but my daughter beat him to it! So he will have to wait for another time to get his turn.
This kit was simple and easy to use. Everything necessary was included, but for a paper plate or palette on which to roll your sponge rollers. I had her use a plastic sponge roller tray that I picked up for a buck, just because I thought it would be less messy, and it was! Plus, I could wash it and use it again.
The step-by-step instructions were very easy to follow. The first step was to tape a piece of the art paper down on a protected hard surface with something removing like masking tape. Then step two was to peel off the stickers that would act as temporary masks for the stars and place them on the top half of the paper.
Step three told her to squeeze four quarter-sized amounts of blue paint onto her rolling surface, which in her case, was the paint roller tray. Then she had to load up the paint on the included Van Gogh sponge roller.
Step four instructed her to roll the paint roller gently across the entire surface of the paper as she wished, making sure to pass over the star masks, as well.
Step five had her add a half-dollar-sized amount of white paint on top of the blue paint on her tray and load up the roller with paint again.
In step six, she had to paint across the page from edge to edge in the sky area of the picture to add a blue/white streak through the sky. Then she had to remove the star masks to reveal the white area beneath.
Then in step seven, she had to align the included stencil with the top of the paper and tape down the edges.
Next, she had to add 4 quarter-sized amounts of black paint to her paint tray and load up the roller with paint again for step eight.
In step nine, she had to roll over all of the open areas of the stencil with the paint roller. This is where the composition of the painting really starts to take shape!
Next, she had to remove the stencil carefully and allow the paint to dry for about 10 minutes in step ten. The instructions suggest that to speed up the drying process, you can also use a hair dryer.
As you can see, the painting is really starting to take shape! This is the part where your kids can start to be creative with the finishing touches. In step eleven, she got to use the included white, yellow, and orange oil pastels to add the swirls in the star spaces. You can even experiment with blending the colors here.
Step twelve is the final step, and this is where she got to use the four colors of oil pastels to embellish the trees and buildings in the foreground as she desired.
Voila! The painting is now finished! The project was really easy to complete, and I can see where any child or adult could create a satisfying result in about an hour. What fun! I think this kit could help build the confidence of any young artist in your family, no matter whether they have artistic talent or not. I have no doubt my non-creative youngest son will be able to complete this project, too, with great success!
I do have one suggestion, though, before you try this for yourself. Because the materials arrived rolled up inside a sturdy box with a carrying handle, the paper and stencil come out of the package very curled. It was easy to flatten out the paper by rolling it in the opposite direction once or twice. But the stencil proved to be a bit trickier. I would suggest that you place it on a hard surface with something heavy on top of it for at least a day before beginning, or maybe try heating up the plastic with a hair dryer and then flattening it out with a weight for a little while. I ended up having to press down on the stencil in various places with my hands as she rolled the paint roller over it in order to keep it flat against the paper. Otherwise, I think the paint may have smeared and not produced crisp edges on the stencil design. But other than that, we had no problems at all. If I could make one suggestion to the vendor, it would be to use flat packaging for the stencil, stickers, and paper with perhaps a box section attached at the bottom for the paints and rollers.
In addition to the art kit itself, there is also a brief biography of Van Gogh and the history of his art and style included on the backside of the instructions. It shows pictures of some of his other works and talks about the way he used colors and details, comparing his use of Realism and Post-Impressionistic styles.
With the holidays approaching, you might consider this and other kits in the series as gift ideas for the children on your gift list!
Take a look at what other Crew members have to say about their experiences with this kit by clicking the banner below.
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