Beados Glitter Quick Dry Design Studio from Character has been a huge hit with Miss M. With lots of coloured and glittery beads that magically join together when sprayed with water, the designs are simple to make and effective when finished.
Suitable for ages 4+, although they would probably require assistance at that age, Miss M who is just 7 sat and did this craft set unaided and independently, meaning she was thrilled at the results knowing it was all her own work.
The set consists of a fan which requires 2 AA batteries, 2 boards to make the designs on, some design templates, various packs of coloured beads, a divided dish to use to hold the beads, a tool to pick the beads up, a water spray bottle and some stands to help display your finished work.
You can either copy the designs from the template or for younger children you can put the template underneath the board so you can follow the design by putting the correct coloured beads on top. The tweezer like tool helps you to pick up a bead and place it in the correct place on the board. I really liked the glittery beads and think they really enhanced the finished designs.
Once you have completed the design, you use the spray bottle to gently spray a layer of water across the whole design and then place it under the fan to try. Miss M loved following through with this process as she could complete it herself from start to finish.
The beads adhered together well once they were wet. We did find that if too much water was used it was a good idea to turn the design over once partially dry to let the other side dry fully rather than sit in water on the tray.
With plenty of concentration, the Beados really kept Miss M occupied and is a fun craft that’s a little bit different from the things Miss M normally does which helped maintain her interest. It made her feel very grown up using the fan herself and showing me her finishing projects.
The designs looked really good once dry and can be used for many things. There are a few various stands included, one to stand a design upright, another with a sucker to put on a window and another one with a sucker that you could stick anywhere. There are also some little attachments that you can adhere to a design with little water and they have a hole in which you can thread some string or ribbon through and use as a keyring or attach to a bag.
Beados has been a big hit here for Miss M who loved working with the beads and was really pleased with the finished pieces. This would be great for any art and craft fan, and you can purchase additional bead sets to make further designs after and the fan can be used again and again. Why not take a look at Beados next time you are looking for a gift?
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the products in order to write the review.
They look really cool – and it’s so much better for younger children than the ones yo have to heat. But what happens if you go out in the rain? Does it all fall apart? 🙂
They are brilliant! We also had one and the fan dry it quickly!
This set looks great, we have something similar and Monkey loves it, which they would realise that boys like this sort of stuff too!