IT’s Retro: Colorforms Brush with Genius

Founded in 1951, Colorforms is one of the oldest and best-known brands in the toy industry. Did you know it was one of the first toys ever advertised on television?

As the brand celebrates its 60^th anniversary, it continues to grow with the addition of new creative, educational additions. One of the latest is the Brush with Genius Paint and Play Activity Toy.

Brush with Genius is a large battery-operated paint brush that allows kids to create sound by forming a circuit between their still-wet artwork and the brush’s body. The brush itself features an oversized version of the familiar Colorforms logo – a yellow ball head with the square pink body and triangle blue hat. To be honest, I seemed to notice it more than my daughter. She just wanted to get right into painting.

We followed the instructions on the box and set about painting our pictures.

Step one; we dipped our brush in water and then the watercolor paint to make our picture. It is very important in this step to hold the brush so that your fingers make contact with the metallic strip that runs along the front of the brush.

Step two; while the paint brush was still in contact with the paper, we touched the wet picture with a finger from our opposite hand and it made a sound – a cross between a loud beep and a screech. My daughter was surprised and wasn’t sure if she had done it or not. But then we showed her how you can run your finger along the line to hear different tones and she got super excited.

This is a neat toy especially for inquisitive kids who like to experiment. At four I think my daughter was a bit young. I would recommend this toy for ages six and up, but then it does depend on the child. Due to her age, my daughter needed us to lead her in play where as I could see an older child really testing the boundaries with artwork and the accompanying sounds they could coordinate.

The Brush with Genius Paint and Play Activity Toy includes the magic brush and watercolor paint. AAA Batteries are required and not included. It retails for $13.95 and can be purchased at www.amazon.com or other local retailers as specified on the manufacturer’s website www.areyougame.com.

* We did not receive monetary compensation for this review. That’s IT Mommy received the product mentioned free of charge in order to facilitate this review. This will in no way sway our opinion of the product or service. The review is in our own words and is our opinion. Your results and opinions may differ.