Baby Art Christmas Ball - Great idea, but very difficult to use with a very young baby, 10 Jan. 2014

What's in the box - one large green bauble, one tube of gold paint, one paint pen, one small roller.

The idea is that you roller the paint onto your child's hand, then press the hand onto the bauble to get a permanent hand print. Sounds easy....

In practice we found the paint very difficult to apply, it did not spread well. Then we had the biggest problem of all, getting the baby to open its hand long enough to make an impression on the bauble. When the hand was opened we slapped it on quickly, but a slight movement meant that we ended up with a smeary mess on the bauble. We couldn't remove the paint to start again, and then we found that the paint was pretty well stuck to the baby's hand, and quite a lot of scrubbing was required to remove it from the baby's skin. And from our skin for that matter. My wife then went on to use the pen to decorate the rest of the bauble, that bit worked well.

There is a lack of safety information regarding the paint...

This review is from: Baby Art Christmas Ball (Green & Gold) (Baby Product)

Great idea with patience!, 19 Dec. 2013

This is a great, cheap, ideal Christmas gift for anyone. It is a lovely idea, a lovely keepsake and everything you need in one kit.

Admittedly it does look easier than it is. It comes with a little tube of gold paint - a roller for easy application and a gold pen. This works a lot better with 2 people and a child! One adult to hold the bauble in place and one to deal with painting the hand/foot and getting it in place.

We went for the hand option and used the paint - it works better if you don't use too much paint as it's quite thin and smudges easily - you don't need too much to make a print and it's easier to remove the childs hand afterwards when it's not too slidey. We realised this after the first attempt when my nephews hand slid across the whole print completely smudging it upon removal but if you are quick you can't wipe this straight off and start again.

Our second attempt was better and we propped it up to dry and wrote the name and date and...

This review is from: Baby Art Christmas Ball (Green & Gold) (Baby Product)

We got a smudge, but it is ours son's smudge!, 19 Dec. 2013

These balls are a great idea, but don't expect to get a result like the photo illustration. Even trying with my own finger I failed to get a good result, let alone an almost 6 month olds' hand. The difficulty is obvious; you're trying to put paint onto a shiny, plastic surface, which is never easy, even when children aren't involved.

Our issues start with the paint, which is little thin, so it is difficult to get a good thick coating on the hand to start with. Press the painted hand onto the ball and you find the paint also acts as a good lubricant, so everything slides around very easily. Finally, when you pull away the paint is drawn more to your skin than to the ball, so it is drawn up slightly and 'peaks', thinning it out most everywhere. Ideally you'd want paint that wants to stick to the ball more than anything else.

Our second issue is a purely personal one - our son is too young. You need your child to open up their hand fully and keep it still when...

This review is from: Baby Art Christmas Ball (Green & Gold) (Baby Product)