Both of my boys (both J and the hubby) are rather partial to anything Sci-Fi based, J was therefore rather pleased when we were recently sent the Aquabeads Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Set to put to the test and to review.
What Are Aquabeads?
For those of you that aren’t aware, Aquabeads are small, coloured beads which can be placed upon a crafting board and when sprayed with water stick together to create a range of 2D designs. There are a wide range of similar products also available on the market but most of these require either a hot iron to bond the beads or simply fall apart after use.
Having had a fair amount of experience in using children’s crafting beads to create numerous designs I am confident to say that Aquabeads are by far the most effective, child-friendly option available.
The Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Aquabeads Set
Perfect for any budding Star Wars fan, the Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Aquabeads set includes the following:
- 1 x Clear Plastic AquaBeads Layout Tray
- 1 x AquaBeads Sprayer
- 1 x Template Sheet (with two different images to use)
- 5 x Bags of Beads (containing black, grey and white polygon beads).
- 1 x Cardboard display stand
- 1 x Instruction Sheet
Unlike the larger Aquabeads sets, The Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Aquabeads set does not include a bead palette/ design tray nor does it include an Aquabeads bead pen. These items can be purchased separately but are not necessarily required for smaller projects such as the ones included within this set.
Getting Crafty With The Kit
We began by sorting the beads into a colour dividing tray as we had previously acquired an Aquabeads bead palette/ design tray we used this to separate the beads. As this isn’t included in this set you may wish to use a small plate/ tray.
My son J then selected one of the two templates which we slotted into the layout tray following the arrow guides printed onto the base of the sheet.
He then selected the correct colour beads and put them into place following the template design. This took J some time to complete as the beads are quite small and unless you have a steady hand beads will occasionally stray from where they are first placed.
Aquabeads are suitable for children aged four-years and over, let me tell you that even as an adult well into my thirties I found this set quite tricky to work on at times so for children I imagine it must seem a challenging task. The polygon shaped Aquabeads seem ever so slightly trickier to put into place than the standard shaped Aquabeads.
Watching J deep in concentration whilst hard at work Aquabeading I became aware of how much patience and effort is required to carry out such crafts.
Having spent almost an hour carefully placing the Aquabeads into place, J was ready to complete his design by using the sprayer to soak the Aquabeads in water.
It is next to impossible to remove the design template from the back of the layout board before spraying the design with water. I would therefore recommend that when spraying the water both children and adults should be careful not to soak the design template slotted behind the plastic layout board.
Having sprayed his design with water, we stood the layout board on the side to dry so that he could later remove his work from the layout board.
The Finished Project
Having had an hour or so to bond and to dry, we carefully removed J’s design from the layout board and placed it upon the cardboard display stand included.
J was really pleased with the finished result, he has since removed his storm trooper from the display stand and blue tacked it to his bedroom door along with his other Aquabeads projects from the past.
Set Ranges
There are a wide range of Aqua Beads sets available including basic starter sets, jewel sets, Frozen, Cinderella, Minnie Mouse, Mario, Finding Dory, Hello Kitty and Sylvanian Family sets to name just a few. Each set includes a range of templates from which a range of designs can be created, alternatively children can use their imagination to create their own designs, anything is possible with Aquabeads!
Purchasing & Pricing Information
The Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Aquabeads Set currently retails from £9.59 and is available from a wide range of retailers including Amazon and Jac In A Box.
Our Final Thoughts
Aquabeads make the perfect gift for boys and girls aged four-years and upwards. There is a massive amount of sets available each offering a range of templates to choose from.
Aquabeads are so much fun to work with, promoting a wide range of skills from practicing patience, hand-eye coordination development, improving dexterity, encouraging imagination, aiding colour recognition and independent working all of which can be learnt whilst having fun with arts and crafts.
Aquabeads can be used to create a huge range of crafts from jewellery to key rings, door signs, ornaments and much more simply by adding the required materials to finished designs.
J had great fun putting together his Stormtrooper using the Star Wars Kylo Ren & Stormtrooper Aquabeads Set. As a very lucky, chosen Aquabeader I look forward to reviewing and featuring many more of these sets in the near future!
For further information upon pricing, packs and where to buy Aquabeads visit www.aquabeadsart.com/uk
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Product Rating
Disclosure: We were sent the above product for the purpose of this post however all opinions are J’s and my own.
1 comment
These look fantastic and as you have said any child would love them, I’m sure!