Wikki Stix is an incredibly simple toy, so simple that it invites kids and adults to hours of creative play.
Simplicity-wise, simply by adding wax to yarn (all right, a special, secret kind of wax, but wax, nonetheless), the inventors have created an art toy that is as fun as it is expressive. The fun of it is that it sticks almost anywhere. The Wikki face and Wikki heart and Wikki initials that I experimented with five months ago are still on my wall, waiting only my whim to be peeled effortlessly way.
Wikki Stix receives today’s Major FUN Award and is on my most-recommended list for executive retreats and creative brainstorm sessions. My executive-related Wikki Stix exploration concludes with this exemplary story from Stephanie Portola:
“Years ago when I had a Wikki Stix wall in my office people would add to it sequentially and check in with it periodically. It became a group work in progress (although the group members were anonymous to each other). The ever changing work of art was quite creative and fun. For example: One person would “draw” a face in outline, another person would add a face looking into the first face, someone else would come up with a “word balloon” and get the two people talking. Or someone would draw a figure and another person would put flowers in the figure’s hand.”
The Wikki Stix site is “adapted for the site impaired” because its easy-to-touch-read texture makes it a perfect instructional aid, as well as an invitation to play, for all of us, with more of us.
A similar product (same??) is Bendaroos. I’m not sure it actually makes use of “magical wax” as they claim (LOL!), but they are fun nonetheless.
On our last roadtrip to Utah (we live up in Canada), my wife and I grabbed a couple sets for our kids to play with. They are used to playing with their Nintendo DS, but much to our surprise, they latched on to the Bendaroos in the first 10 minutes and stuck with them (off and on) for several hours!