Our latest craft discovery is Aquabeads, which essentially involves placing teeny tiny colored beads into a pattern or shape on a special grided tray and spraying them with water. After waiting about an hour, the beads will stick together and hold the shape.
This here is from the Aquabeads Frozen play set, which we picked up on clearance at Target ($9.98 down from $19.99.) Our 5-year-old is shown here diligently placing the beads on Anna's face on the tray but what you didn't see is mom hovering over the Elsa design yesterday, finishing up the piece because Miss Thang was too tired to do it (To be fair, she has the flu, so she gets a pass.)
Despite the small pieces and the frustration that occurs when a bead falls into a wrong spot and it takes a skill of a magician to extract it without disturbing the other beads, Aquabeads is actually a cool craft/fun time-waster. Aquabeads are perfect for hotel rooms and home rentals (we actually picked up our first set when staying in a hotel in NYC) but because of the small pieces, we wouldn't recommend for plane flights or car rides. Also, it says ages 4 and up but be prepared to do a lot of the bead-dropping yourself. Note: this is very different from beat-dropping.
THE 4 Cs
CRAFT?: Aquabeads. This is a UK company but Aquabeads are found everywhere from Target to Duane Reade. You can also print out more designs from their website.
COST? Playsets range from $14.99 to $22.99 for an ultimate playset. Some smaller playsets are available on Amazon for $7.99
COOL FOR WHAT AGE? 4 and up. But you'll have to provide a lot of help for the younger ones.
COOL FOR TRAVEL? Yes, but only for hotel rooms or apartments. Not for use while in motion.
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