Every child is an artist, but what about children with food allergies?

Many of us will have childhood memories of excitedly presenting a picture or collage to somebody that we looked up to, and will recall waiting with anticipation for their reaction. Craft time was one of the things that I really looked forward to when I imagined having my own children, but the reality of it has been very different to the lovely Disneyfied bonding times I imagined! Toddler groups with my two boys has often involved trying to stop one from eating all the paint and glue on the table, whist trying to calm down the other who panicked about getting the slightest spec of paint on his hands before spreading more over his face in his anxious state. All whilst I was wondering what on earth was in the craft supplies we were using.

Both of my children have food allergies (my elder son only has four safe foods at the moment), and since being plunged into the world of allergies I have come to learn how much of a barrier allergies could potentially be to budding young artists.  Fortunately my children are unlikely to  have little more than a rash unless they actually eat the products that they are allergic to, but the nature of craft time with young children means this is not entirely unlikely. There are many warnings floating around about wheat in adhesives, soya in paints and so on, but how can we know for sure that our children are safe when we encourage them to paint us a pretty picture? Yes, craft products have a totally different purpose to food, but so do cosmetics and these are covered by labelling guidelines. Every child is an artist but what about children with allergies?

I strongly believe that every parent, teacher, children's group leader and youth worker should easily be able to find out what is in, or at the very least what is not in, the craft products we provide for our children. Getting information from manufacturers about the ingredients in their craft products has been so much harder than I thought it would be as most of them are rather secretive about what is used in their products (even after much reassurance that I wasn't trying to clone their products, I was just trying to keep my children safe!). A breakthrough came last year when I contacted Hailey from Allergy Adventures  with my predicament, and she really helpfully pointed me in the direction of Brian Clegg - a UK manufacturer of arts and crafts products.  Not only are their products fantastic but they guarantee that all of their products are free from the top 14 food allergens.

We have been enjoying the peace of mind of using Brian Clegg products ever since.  The good news is their range of products is as wide as those offered by other manufactures, from the ready mixed paints (that come in packs including fluorescent and skin tone), to glues, glass paints and fabric paints.  As with food substitues you would expect the catch to be in the price, but I was pleasently surprised that their range of products is no more expensive than other brands on the market.

One particular hit in our house has been the paint sticks which Brian Clegg sent us to try after hearing how well we had got on with their other products. The paints are in a tube which you can twist up and down and use just like a glue stick without the need for paintbrushes and water, making them ideal for when you want to do craft in a quicker, quieter manner.  My elder boy, has sensory processing difficulties and cannot stand mess, so the paint sticks have been fantastic when trying to including him in arts and crafts time and are by far his favourite thing in our craft box. In addition to paper and card, the paint from the sticks can be successfully used on wood, glass and some plastics so they are ideal to use when decorating gifts. As well as being available in classic colours, the paint sticks are also available in day glow and metallic colours. One of the hurdles I've faced when trying to persuade children's groups to purchase Brian Clegg products is the argument that if they are guaranteeing allergy friendly paints they will need to purchase new paintbrushes so it wouldn't be cost effective - the paint sticks have fixed this predicament for us (they can be used with no other materials needed), and at £3.99 for a pack of six paint sticks they are defiantly cost effective.

My hope is that one day other manufacturers will also see the importance of declaring such important information. My hope is that one day all teachers and group leaders will have ingredient information and guidelines readily available in order to keep our children safe whilst in their care. In the meantime at least we are making small steps forward. Next on our list to try are the Peel-Off Paints! You can get your Brian Clegg Supplies here.