May the beads be with
you.
Last Christmas we were
sent a cute little set with which you make some characters from
Finding Dory out of weird little beads. We loved that, but to be
honest none of us here we're all that fussed about Finding Dory.
So... take a new Aquabeads set and add a theme that we do all love –
such as Star Wars – and now you're talking. We check out the
Aquabeads Star Wars Playset.
In a nutshell,
Aquabeads are small plastic beads that, when wet, stick to each other
and then dry to form a fairly rigid structure. Aquabead sets include
a layout tablet which allows you to arrange the beads how ever you
want, and also a small spray bottle to douse your design in water in
order to make them stick. Sounds simple, and it is.
However, what makes the
Aquabeads Star Wars Playset that little bit more awesome than others
we've seen in the past, is that it contains everything you need to
make four iconic character designs from the Star Wars universe;
namely Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, R2D2, and C3PO. Beats some dumb
fish. Tee hee.
Included in the playset
is the aforementioned layout table, a bead tray to keep all the
different colours of beads separate and organised, the spray bottle,
four template designs, and over 1000 beads, mostly in white, black,
yellow, and grey (with a few blue and even fewer jewel beads). You
basically get all the beads you need to make the four designs, and no
more. So this isn't really a set for freestyle design work, just so
you know.
Right, so with the
beads poured out into the tray, and with a design template inserted
beneath the table (the Stormtrooper, obviously) we got cracking. The
process of picking up and laying down the beads isn't as tedious and
as fiddly as you might think, but this is definitely a task better
suited to smaller fingers. The template beneath the table lined up
well with the bead 'holes', so following the instructions is a fairly
easy affair – certainly the wee kiddos we set to the task achieved
it.
After setting all the
correct beads in place, you sprinkle on a bit of water – just
enough to wet everything. You then tip the table on it's side to
allow the excess water to drain, then leave your creation to dry for
about an hour. After that, carefully pop it off, and there is your
Stormtrooper (or Vader, or R2, or threepio).
The kids loved it, as
not only is the process a great opportunity to concentrate and follow
a set pattern, but the finished creation is quite tactile, having a
bendy, rubber-like quality. Plus, if it breaks, you simple pop it
back onto the board and re-wet it.
We would have
appreciated more beads to make a few designs free-hand, perhaps
following suggestions printed on the box, but as a crafting
experience resulting in a movie tie-in the kids will love, this is
loads of fun.
£20.99
Available from
www.amazon.co.uk
