Last updated on August 19th, 2022 at 11:46 pm
We did a round-up of eco-friendly play dough a while back, which was great fun. But we never touched on other art supplies lurking in our cabinets. So I decided to try out Eco-Kids Art which offers a wide array of natural art supplies. I’ll admit I have my fair share of the good old traditional stuff like Crayola crayons and markers. But I have become leery of what was in them and whether rinsing that stuff down the sink was bad for the environment.
The Eco-Kids paints are made with natural ingredients like plants, fruit, and vegetable extracts from beets, spinach, paprika, carrots, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, blueberries, and tomato. All the colors come in powder form, so you can control how intense the color is. You can do something simple like watercolor or change the paint/water ratio and use thicker paint. We experimented with a few variations, and the colors all look pretty fabulous. They dry lighter in color, but the fun part is doing the actual painting (if you ask me).
Next, we tried the Eco-Kids Beeswax Crayons. They come in various pretty colors and are made with recycled newspaper, wax, and natural mineral dyes. My son is really into learning to write; these have been a fun way to encourage that skill.
Lastly, we dyed some eggs with an eco-friendly Easter Egg Coloring Kit! Finally! A kit for the rest of us who don’t feel like making our own. The kit comes in 5 colors made from purple sweet potato, paprika, beta carotene, red cabbage, and blueberries. There is enough dye to color your eggs (twice if need be!), and the kit comes with two soy crayons for decorating. So great! I’d love to say that I spent time steeping vegetables and straining juices to make my own safe egg coloring, but I just haven’t done it. I can barely get dinner ready with a 4-year-old, a baby, and work. I’ve been waiting for a safety kit to come on the market, and my prayers have been answered!
Eco-Kids Art is a small family-run business. I loved the copy on the values and mission page of their website.
Here is what is says:
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Simplify children’s toys.
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Remove gender/race biases from children’s products.
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Create time and space for a child’s inner journey.
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Emphasize the joy of discovery, imagination, creation and learning.
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Engage parents and caregivers in their children’s playtime.
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Reduce screen time.
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Reduce/eliminate unsustainable ingredients, packaging and practices.
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Reduce plastic use
You can purchase Eco-Kids from their website on Amazon.