When I was little, I loved making those bead crafts that you would then iron to melt together. I would (not so) patiently wait by the ironing board as my mom would carefully melt my flower/horse/optical illusion design together. When I was a camp counselor, I realized the extreme pressure my mom was under when it came to ironing those things without breaking them—and subsequently breaking that little bead artist’s heart.
Moose Toys has revived its Beados brand, which solves all of the problems that came with having to iron your beaded creations. With the Beados Quick Dry Design Station, kids can create fun designs from beads with no heat, no glue, and no mess. The trick is that the beads magically join together with water—making this a craft kids can do with little assistance from parents and removing the pressure that comes from having to iron those beads.
With the Quick Dry Design Station alone, kids get 500 beads, six design templates, a tweezer pen, two bead trays, a storage tray, suction cups and a display stand, a water sprayer, and helpful instructions. The process of following one of the templates is relatively simple and quick—long enough for kids to keep busy, but quick enough that the process is not tediuos or boring. The tweezer pen makes it easy to pick up beads to place on the template.
Of course, kids can exercise their creativity and layout the beads however they’d like, creating fun free-form designs without using an included template. After the beads are all set, kids simply spray the design with water and leave it beneath the Quick Dry Design Station’s fan for about 5 to 10 minutes and they’re all set! Helpful hint: The longer you leave it under the fan, the sturdier your design becomes, so patience is a truly a virtue during this step of the process. Plus, during the time one creation takes to dry, kids can create a whole new design, so the wait time doesn’t seem so long. Refill packs and a Starter Pack are also available, so kids can create as many beaded creations as they desire.
