Can you believe that summer is half over? In fact, some children are gearing up to go back to school in just a couple of weeks. It’s crazy to think it was JUST the last day of school, and now it’s time to go back.

The first few weeks of summer is always a blast for most kids. They get to hang out with their friends, sleep late, watch television and play games into the wee hours of the night, but eventually some kids do get bored.

As a child, that never happened to me (thankfully), but that is because I was used to playing by myself seeing as how there were no kids on my street, and my siblings were many years older than me. I always found something to keep me occupied.

One of my favorite things to do was to take recyclables and create accessories and fashion for my Barbie dolls.

I still remember the last few weeks of summer. My kids would actually whine about being bored. That was an odd concept for someone like me who was never really bored.

To keep my kids busy, I would give them a box full of craft supplies and recyclables and let their imaginations and creativity take over. I would even buy them arts and crafts kids to provide them with more inspiration.

If you are looking for some fun activities and toys to keep your kids occupied this summer (and year round), check out all that is available from the brand Bright Stripes.

Bright Stripes offers fantastic activity kits and toys that promote social, emotional, and tactile learning while fueling imaginations for a summer filled with fun at-home and on the go.

Bright Stripes was kind enough to send a couple of products to review. I received the following.

Deluxe 25 Piece Picnic Set ($29.99)

When I saw this I instantly fell in love with it. It is so darling!

I work with children, and my “work kids” love to play with the fake foods that I keep on hand at our program. I knew the moment I saw this set that it would be hugely popular with the kids.

This adorable picnic set comes with;

• Four (4) plates
• Four (4) spoons
• Four (4) forks
• Four (4) napkins
• Four (4) cups
• Four (4) cookies

All of the pieces store perfectly in the carrying case (which counts as the 25th piece). After all, you need a picnic “basket” to carry your picnic supplies in.

The napkins are made out of a fabric, as well as the cookies.

You can use other food pieces from other sets you might own to add to the fun.

Here are a few photos that I took.

How cute is this set? A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

I love that everything fits perfectly inside the carrying case (“basket”) for on-the-go-fun! Your little one could even bring it with them to a real picnic.

All that is missing is a blanket (any blanket would do).

Picnics are fun year round, indoors and out.

iHeart Squeegee Art ($29.99)

My daughter is really into arts and crafts (she’s in her mid-20’s now). Her and one of her best friends are always doing different crafts together. Not long ago they did one called squeegee art. Squeegee art is where you put tiny dabs of paint on a canvas and take a squeegee to drag it through the paint to create really cool designs. They are very smooth and fluid-like.

Somewhere is my daughter’s example, but she has no idea where she put it.

If you Google squeegee art, you’ll find some cool examples.

The iHeart Art Squeegee Art set from Bright Strips comes with all you need to get started.

• Cardstock paper
• Stencils
• Removable Stickers
• Florescent Paints
• Two (2) squeegees (different sizes)
• Large cardboard piece to work on (and keep the paint off the table).

I would recommend some removable tape (like painters tape) to keep the paper in place while you are using the squeegee. You can use your hand too.

There are different ways you can use the squeegee to make art with. You can put drops of paint in rows/columns, or you can “freestyle it,” meaning put drops of paint where ever you want.

I think I need more practice because my pieces didn’t exactly come our right. That could be just me because I do have carpal tunnel in my wrists (both) and moving certain ways are not as comfortable as others.

I’m glad that this set came with paper to get started on before advancing to something like canvas.

Two things I did notice that I think is worth noting.

• Wipe the squeegee off with each swipe. If you don’t, the paint will start to blend together and you’ll find yourself with brown-ish streaks.
• Heat and humidity seems to affect the paint. I found on one of the days I used the set that the paint was very watery and it was hard to put small drops on the paper. It came out too much and got messy.

As with anything else, practice makes perfect.

I don’t want to show you the ones I made, only because I am not very happy with them. I will show you one, but it’s hard to see the colors and how they swirl together.

It has a marble-like look to it.

I’m still trying to figure out how not to get those “raised” sections.

These are just a few of the available toys and crafts sets available from Bright Stripes. If you are interested in checking them out, or learning more about the brand, visit BrightStripes.co (notice it’s .co and NOT .com).

Kimberly

*I received free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.