Has anyone tried the Shiva Paintsticks? What did you make with them? Which colors did you use? Did you make your own patterns? Did you use freezer paper? I am thinking of purchasing some for our 4-H group to use. The kids range in age from 7 to 16. Is this something they all should be able to handle?
Bobbie in ND

Depends on their skills. I too a panel already printed and painted it with them. I ironed the fabric to the shinny part of freezer paper to stabilize it. I am not sure I would recommend it for 7 years old. They don't work like crayons. I have seen most people use them to paint with stencils. For that you will need sponges or short brushed. If you want to paint with brushes, what I do is to of course, peel the protective skin and paint a chuck on freezer paper. Then use a very short brush to pick it up and spread it on the fabric. I believe they are too expensive just to see if the kids will be able to paint with them. They are indeed long lasting if you let it dry for at least 5 days and then fix it with the iron.

This is the link to the quilt I made with them:

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?n...uct_id=2176957

I've used them several times and used the brites and metallics most of the time. I've used them with stencils on fabric, used them to do rubbings of leaves to make wall hangings, etc.

I think that the older kids would be able to use them but they're pretty expensive so not sure if it would be cost effective for use by younger kids. They are also a little messy - taking the dried layer off when you use it, etc, and since it's really oil paint, cleanup is more difficult than other types of paint.

Freezer paper works great as stencils -

As much as I love using them, I think you'd be better off finding something cleaner and cheaper to use with the kids.

a tutorial on them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgsbM...layer_embedded

and another
http://www.dharmatrading.com/products/sip.html

for the price of these, I would not recommend them for kids!
You can do fun stuff with crayola crayons to get the same effects!

Water color pencils (water color pencils, not the regular ones) and fabric medium are fun too.
Iron the fabric to freezer paper to stabilize it.
Color with the pencils, and then paint on the fabric medium to blend and set the colors :D:D:D

oohh,, forgot about that one! it is fun!

WOW! Beautiful quilt! Thanks for the reply.

I'm glad I asked before I purchase a bunch of them....thanks!

Thank you all for giving me feedback on the paint sticks. I think I will try the water color technique with them instead. Probably not as messy and much cheaper for me. Sometimes we do things with the older ones by themselves. We just started teaching them all how to knit....thanks again!