My family had the privilege of trying the Master Kitz The Starry Night from Kidzaw.com for this review to use in conjunction with our own art homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.
Kidzaw.com is a children's art company that is devoted to education and inspiration of young artists. Their Master Kitz line exposes kids to the great painters of the past and their history by giving them tools to make a similar art piece and read about the artist. This hands-on experience is great for people ages 5+!
Master Kitz The Starry Night is a Master Kitz that teaches about Vincent van Gogh, his art piece The Starry Night, and other contributions. You or your child can create your own version of The Starry Night with the included contents and instructions in the kit. Then you can read about the famous painter in the learning materials that are provided. All the materials for two paintings are included. The box it comes in can also be used as a art storage box when the art pieces are completed and the left over supplies can be used for other art projects as well.
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| Top: Contents, Bottom: learning materials opened up to show instructions. |
Included in the Master Kitz The Starry Night:
- Reusable Artist’s Tool Box
- Three Custom Paint Colors (acrylics, child friendly)
- Custom Van Gogh Paint Roller
- Five Artist Quality Oil Pastels (child friendly)
- Two Pieces Deluxe Art Paper – 16″ x 20″
- Reusable Composition Stencil (Starry Night Cyprus Stencil)
- Sponge Paint Roller
- Low Tack "Mesmerizing Stars" Mask Sticker Sheet
- Van Gogh Learning Materials
- Easy-to-follow Instructions
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| Zari getting Kidzaw.com Master Kitz The Starry Night for her birthday and her ready to do art! |
How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We received a gift card to purchase Master Kitz The Starry Night ourselves from Amazon to facilitate this review. It shipped out in a timely manner so that my youngest daughter, who is 8 now, could receive it in time for her birthday party on October 20th. She had ample amount of time to also do the project as well.
The box that the kit came in was very nice. It had a rope handle to carry it and flipped open when the tape on the sides was removed. It is sturdy with magnetic closures. When we opened the box we saw that the art paper and stencil were rolled up so they would fit better in the box. Everything was included to make two art pieces if we wanted to.
My youngest daughter Zari did the art project for this review. We were instructed to place something down to minimize the mess, but my kitchen table is old and has had many an art project grace its surface, so we opted not to. Zari needed assistance doing the Master Kitz The Starry Night because she has trouble reading, so I helped her by first reading the learning materials about van Gogh and then read the instructions, helping her step-by-step through them.
The Vincent Van Gogh Learning Materials that I read to her were short and to the point, but still very informative. We learned about Vincent van Gogh, his life, and his art. We also were given a sort of timeline about his art style and how it changed throughout his life. Inside this pamphlet, if you were to unfold it, were the step-by-step instructions in English in color for the project. A black and white copy of just the step-by-step instructions in other languages was also present (French, German, Italian, and Spanish). If I were doing this project in a different language I would also want not only the instructions, but the learning materials to be translated as well, but they were not.
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| Zari doing the steps to the Master Kitz The Starry Night art project. |
The instructions were very straight forward and easy to follow. The first instruction tells us to tape down the art paper to the surface. Since it was rolled up we had to first "put the stencil in between the two sheets of paper and roll in the opposite direction a couple of times to straighten them" like it said to. This straightened it a little, but we needed to tape it down pretty well in order for it to not creep out of the tape and try to roll back up again. I liked that this art project uses different art tools and applications for doing the painting. Although this wasn't really how Vincent van Gogh himself did the swirling layered brush strokes for his own The Starry Night painting, it made the project more interesting. The star mask stickers once applied, were a bit difficult to pull off without destroying them, so I would suggest to Kidzaw.com to make a second set of these as well for the kits so the second painting can be made without fuss. Also, I suggest to the people who buy one of these kits to not wash the stencil or even wipe to clean because it falls apart, instead just reuse after the paint has dried onto it. Thankfully I was being lazy, so I didn't wash mine. My daughter liked the paint roller parts the best. I had to hold down the stencil in places so that when the paint was applied it didn't seep under where it shouldn't be. The paint dried quickly and she had fun with the oil pastels doing the finishing touches her own way.
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| Master Kitz The Starry Night finished art piece. |
The Kidzaw.com Master Kitz The Starry Night is a wonderful art kit with lots of potential. If Kidzaw.com added another star sticker sheet and the learning materials in the other languages then it would be so much better and more inclusive. We loved learning more about Vincent van Gogh and my daughter had a lot of fun making the art. She definitely put her own flair into making her own version of The Starry Night. She even added some wind/clouds like the original has I can't wait to have my other daughter, who is 10, do one for herself to see how she will make hers different. These come out so good that I will be framing them for the girl's room. I recommend this to others that want to offer art instruction at home. These are great for gifts as well. I can't wait to try out their other Master Kitz.
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BUY IT
You can purchase Kidzaw.com Master Kitz The Starry Night on Amazon or from Kidzaw.com here.
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