Summertime. It’s the time of the year when schedules become more flexible, days are longer, and the daily panic isn’t quite what it usually is. And for many of us, summertime also includes days full of kids activities, super hot and humid temperatures, and not enough activities to keep little (and big) children occupied. Even though we come from the old school parenting, where children are left to their own devices (and we don’t mean electronics) to figure out how to occupy themselves, we are firm believers in keeping activities, items, and plenty of outdoor toys to assist in creativity. And one category that we typically overindulge in is arts and crafts supplies, and we’re not talking about Crayola.

Enter OOLY. When stocking our summer art cart with supplies, we looked for a few key things when choosing a brand. One: variety. We love to see many choices of items such as colored pencils, paints, gel pens, and paper. Two: age range. As most moms know, what works for a little, doesn’t work for a pre-teen. OOLY brings the variety and excitement for children of all ages. Three: cost. No one wants to break the bank stocking art supplies. Especially as art is in the eye of the beholder, some children being more detailed than others. Four: quality. Long lasting, durable, and vibrant to name a few of the redeeming qualities of the brand. Five: ALL THE RAINBOWS! Every shade imaginable to create the perfect ROYGBIV.

We started our mini testers with the OOLY Chunkies, no mess paint sticks with 24 colors that include metallic, neon and traditional colors. Our girls, ages 9 & 11 loved using these to create animal art, both being able to use without any mess or smearing, which is a big plus in our house. And don’t mind our dining table, many creative memories have left their mark in the years past!

And like mother like daughter(s), the girls line up their colors in ROYGBIV order for easy retrieval while creating.

Another favorite for my 9 year old was the OOLY Pixie Paste, with names like Ocean Potion, Unicorn Stars, and Party in a Jar who could resist?! My 11 year old dabbled with the Chroma Blends Mechanical Watercolor Pencils, declaring they were for kids 11 and older only. Watching her use the water and brush after coloring was so mesmerizing, I couldn’t wait to give it a go!

And lastly we tested the OOLY Yummy Yummy Scented Glitter Gel Pens along with some super fun Itsy Bitsy stickers. These were not only fun, but smelled delicious and dried quickly which keeps the masterpieces looking fresh.

Another favorite between the two were the Seriously Fine Felt Tipped Markers, perfect for detail drawing or in a coloring book.

And while all the supplies are fantastic, not having an organizational system in place would be complete chaos. We decided that using a rolling cart that could live in our living room, but roll with ease to the dining room table for those spontaneous creative moments. And with the three tiers, we created categories that assist with our girls with not only finding specific items, but returning them to their ‘home’ as well. Clear stackable containment assisted in keeping like items together, while our custom gold foil vinyl labels designated spaces for drawing, painting, and creating.

And OOLY wants to share the love of their products with you with a giveaway to create your own art space!

Included in this giveaway:

lil Watercolor Paint Pods $10
Lil Paint Brushes $8
CB Watercolor Paper $13

Sketch & Color $17
New Doodle Duo Sketchbook $8

2 pixie paste $8

Jumbo Brights $10
Chunkies Variety Pack $27

AND a 5 pack of vinyl labels from us at Organized Simplicity! Choose from gold foil, silver foil, black, white, light grey or dark grey in a choice of 3 fonts.

Giveaway only available to U.S. Residents, to qualify you must follow Organized Simplicity and OOLY on Instagram, see our IG Stories for all the details.**