What's new and fun

What's new and exciting in the world of kids' crafts? Here's a sampling from around the Hobby and Craft Association convention held in Las Vegas earlier this year:

Pretty paints. Remember messy finger paints and sloppy poster paint jars? They could be a thing of the past. Now, paints come in roll-on bottles. Crafty Dab, for example, has shimmer paints, poster paints, face paints, window paints and tub paints (all washable) in bottles sized for kids' hands.

Elmer's also has a line of Bienfang Watercolor Brush Pens and Paintastics Paintbrush pens that are paint applicators with brush tips and instant-dry paint that takes the mess out of watercolor.

Good glue. What Crafty Dab does for paints, it also does for glue, with paper, foam, scrapbook, puzzle and craft glues all in roll-on bottles.

Sticky business. Speaking of sticking things, HMT has peel-and-stick construction paper that can be cut and put in place without the need for glue.

The world is your canvas. Crayola takes creativity into the great outdoors with activity toys that let kids color their environment in a big way. For instance, there's the Color Cyclone, a motorized spin art machine for sidewalks; Chalk 'n Roll, a chalk-walker for outdoor projects; the Super Brush for painting on sidewalks; and Chalk Stomperz, with super-size stencils. They all use Crayola's Washable Sidewalk Paint and Chalk that wash away with water.

Fantastic foam. Foam seems to be a popular material for crafting and comes in lots of variations. For example, Fibre Crafts offers foam flip-flops and visors that can be decorated with favorite Nickelodeon characters, and also has Makeover My Space, a new line of foam dolls, a fold-and-go dollhouse and build-it-yourself foam furniture.

Add the bling. Clothing embellishments are popular with the tween set. Fibre Crafts has kits that come with glitter paints and gemstones for T-shirts called Bling It On. UBU Fashion Accessories has a clever line of fabric flowers that are attached to clothes with small brads so they can be moved around and removed for washing.

Junior scrapbookers. There are lots of minialbums and scrapbook kits that are perfect for young scrappers. K and Co. has an accordion book-in-a-tin that comes with stickers, papers and all you need for a little book that fits in its own tin. Zoom Album (zoomalbum.com) has a digital minialbum where pictures can be downloaded on precut, prefolded paper. Crayola's Girlfitti line has punches, stamps and storage options that allow girls to create colorful communications and memory books.