Have you heard of Qixels
? This pixel-inspired craft is created by fusing little cubes together with water. As you can see, my kids have been crafting up a storm of Qixels creations thanks to a few sets we were sent to review! We loved this toy so much that we put it on our 2015 holiday gift guide.
Create a Qixels Pixel World
The pieces stick to the board, kids don’t have to worry about accidentally bumping the board and destroying their entire design. This also means that you always want a design template on the board, even if you are creating your own design like Emma’s Princess Leia and Yoda (see below). You need to be able to use the tab at the top of the design template to pull the pieces off the board when they are dry. The template is coated with a non-stick surface so that the completed project peels off easily once you have pulled it off of the board.
We were sent three Qixels sets
to try out. Two of the sets came with little spray bottles, but my kids definitely preferred the Fuse Blaster
, which had the added benefit of being easier to use.
If you are going to invest in Qixels for your kids, I highly recommend getting the Turbo Dryer
. It spins the excess water off of your child’s creation so that they can spray to their heart’s content without it negatively impacting the quality of the design or drying time. I started having my kids spray their creations once they were in the Turbo Dryer so that they didn’t have spills while trying to move sopping wet creations into the dryer. There is a little drawer that picks up any extra water, and then you simply empty that in your sink.
Seven-year-old Johnny loves crafting, and he was beyond thrilled to discover this craft set that is designed with boys in mind. Any of his friends – boys or girls – would be delighted to make some of these at our home. Qixels
are actually on the agenda for his birthday party next month!
All four of my kids got really creative with this “craftstruction” toy. Nine-year-old Emma created these cute Princess Leia and Yoda Qixels characters:
Since this is an entirely unplugged craft, the kids were able to spend the afternoon crafting away on our patio. They continued building Qixels creations indoors the next morning before school!
What would your kids create with these little water-fusible blocks?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
What beautiful creations!
The Fuse Blaster looks really fun to use!
Love all your kids’ creations! What a great idea and seems very well designed, too.
I feel like it is a very well thought out toy.
I can see Minecraft-obsessed kids loving it too.
I’m pretty sure it was created with them in mind. My kids haven’t really discovered Minecraft yet but that didn’t stop them loving this.
Looks like a non-iron involved version of that craft whose name I’m totally forgetting. Yes, I should go get more tea.
Yes, but the pieces are cubes so when they spill they don’t roll all over the place. And, no ironing is a big deal!
Oh, one more thing, the pieces sort of plug into the tray so if you bump your tray it doesn’t destroy the entire creation.