Summer Activities for Kids with Wilko Review

Reviewed by Laura Ashworth

Only a couple of weeks into the summer holidays and we had already demolished the craft box, including the secret stash. With the wonderful British weather not being very kind, we found ourselves stuck in doors most days so I was very excited when a large box arrived from Wilko. Upon opening the box it lit up with bright coloured products which included:

Paint Your Own Ceramic Woodland Creature – Hedgehog

This absolutely adorable little chap is perfect for small hands, although the age recommendation is 3+, my 2-year-old had no problem making full use of everything in the box. The quality is excellent for the price at £2.50 I could not tell the difference between this and when we have paid a handsome price for going to a pottery shop for a crafting session. The paint brush in the box was a perfect size for small hands and much better quality than standard paint brushes included in children’s crafting kits. The paints included primary colours which are very thick and not watery. The only negative thing I have to say is it could really do with a small mixing pallet so the children can make secondary and tertiary colours, 5/5.

Paint Your Own Ceramic Piggy Money Box

This fun character money box is a decent size for older children and younger children alike, the age recommendation is 3+. The box includes 6 total decent quality paints, 3 primary colours, 1 secondary plus black and white. The brush is excellent quality for a children’s DIY. The quality is excellent for the price at £3.00 I could not tell the difference between this and when we have paid a handsome price for going to a pottery shop for a crafting session. The only negative thing I have to say is it could really do with a small mixing pallet so the children can make secondary and tertiary colours, 5/5.

A2 Messy Pad

Having limited space in my home can be challenging when my preschooler and toddler want to get the messier crafts out, we usually end up cramped around my crafting desk. The A2 messy pad is a fantastic option for one child or multiple, we skipped straight to the 2nd and 3rd sheet so each child could have a page when they were sat on the carpet whilst the pages were still attached to the pad, a huge win in my opinion! The quality rivals the bigger brand names for children’s paper and at £3.00 for 50 sheets it is must try if all the paper in your homes have already been made in to pretty princesses and roaring dinosaurs. We used acrylic paints, glitter, crayons, pens and chalk pastels on these sheets and they held really well which is sigh of relief after allowing these to be so close to my carpet. These sheets are the perfect size for a standard child’s easel, although slightly large I folded over the edge and it was the perfect canvas for small people. In the end there was 4 of us using this pad at once and there was so much room I cannot fault this product at all, the quality is beyond what I would expect for the price, 5/5.

Wilko Gel Crayons

Imagine getting hold of your mum’s lipstick as a child and painting with it, I think most of us have done it. This is exactly what this product feels like, without the getting in to trouble bit! They come in a pack of 8 and are perfect for little hands as they are chunky and glide so beautifully. They can draw or colour in and the consistency of the product stays the same. We used the A2 messy pad, also from Wilko as the children didn’t want to take the pen off the paper, they were very much in the moment with how beautifully this glided. When the crayon runs low all you have to do is twist up to reveal more, I was surprised by how much product was in these. I must be honest I have never seen a “gel crayon” before and I think they are a great alternative to paint and glue, we were able to sprinkle thin layers of glitter to the freshly applied gel crayon and it actually stuck. The lid on these are hard to get off which for me I can say is great as my small one’s like to contribute bespoke pieces of art to the walls. I have no negative things to say about this product and would rate 5/5.

30 Pack Jumbo Crayons

These crayons at a first glance look very beautiful with all the colours of the rainbow and some inbetween. They are chunky, so perfect for little hands, although the age recommendations is 3+, my 2 year old enjoyed these crayons as much as my preschooler. The packaging is a carry case style with a handle and popper seal and although it’s plastic it is re-useable. The product itself is of mixed quality as some are very true to colour, some take a bit of effort to get the true colour and some are very dry and difficult to get any colour at all which caused my children to lose interest very quickly. The price is £2.00 and reasonable for how many you get but because only half a pack seems to have a good pay off I would be tempted to pay for quality in future. I would rate this 3/5.

Available to buy from Wilko in-store or online, for further information or to find your nearest store visit www.wilko.com.