Miss T has really enjoyed Aquabeads over the years, from the very first playset she was given by her godmother for her birthday to the many wonderful sets she has been sent to review. There's a link to some of them at the bottom of this post - There really are many many themed Aquabeads sets as well as refill packs available.
We've been in isolation since early March and we've done almost every activity under the sun during that time from baking to gardening to painting to crafts. The one thing that surprised me was that the Aquabeads didn't come out at all. I was beginning to wonder whether the kids had outgrown them.
Then Miss T was sent a Star Beads Studio Starter Set. I had made the assumption that this just meant that it came in a Star Shaped box for storing the Aquabeads in. But I was wrong. It is a selection of the beads themselves that are Star Shaped. Some are translucent and some are opaque and there are plenty of the normal sphere shaped beads in the set too.
The really wonderful thing about each and every Aquabeads set and playset is that the box shows exactly what is included right down to the exact number of each colour and type of bead. The "sets" seem to be the smaller sets containing beads often with a theme or characters and the "playsets" seem to be the larger packs containing a bead palette to sort and store your beads in and the bead tray to make your designs on. In more recent packs there is a flip tray and "receiver" so that your designs can be easily removed from the tray to dry - more on that later!
Some of the playsets including the Star Beads Studio (the bigger of the 3 packs we were send to review) include a bead pen. I used to absolutely swear by the bead pen and always told friends to buy one separately if they didn't already have one. As Miss T has grown older and her manual dexterity and fine motor skills have improved, she found that she didn't use the bead pen much this time.
That didn't stop her getting really excited about it though when she saw it...
"It's a double pen!" she yelled. "When you need a star bead you use one end and when you need normal beads you can use the other end."
She set to work choosing which Aquabeads designs to make using the templates provided as well as looking on the enclosed leaflets for inspiration. As she's grown older, I've noticed her confidence has increased to "freestyle" with Aquabeads to create her own designs using her imagination. In the early days she was always totally reliant on the templates.
For anyone needing even more inspiration and ideas, there are loads of templates that can be downloaded free of charge from the Aquabeads website. So during this time where we are staying home so much more because of COVID-19, Aquabeads really do make the perfect lockdown activity!
And unlike many other arts and crafts activities, they are mess-free. A definite plus point for parents!
For her first Star beads design Miss T chose the dragon template.
Soon it was ready to spray with water using the water squirter spray bottle.
We've noticed that Aquabeads constantly look for ways to improve their products and remove any niggles or issues. One of the great things about the Flip tray and receiver design is that bead designs can be easily removed from the tray, onto the "receiver" (the green part shown) and left to dry. By turning the design over after 5 minutes, the second side will dry more quickly and your design will soon be completely dry. In the meantime the tray can be dried off and used for more designs so no need to wait around until one design is completely dry before carrying on your creativity!
There's a video to show how to use the flip tray should you need it but it really is straight forward to use - just hold it firmly as you flip to avoid your beads moving out of place.
Miss T was thrilled with her finished dragon. She didn't stop there - she went onto make loads more designs and D was tempted to join in too. We dug out our whole Aquabeads collection and they spent hours engaged in this activity.
They even made grandad a father's day card using Aquabeads:
That is one of the really great things about Aquabeads - they can be used as part of other craft creations like greetings cards, or bookmarks, or even to decorate picture frames or pencil pots!
The next morning the first question Miss T asked me was "mummy can I do more Aquabeads today?"
We were sent the following three products for this review:
The Star Bead Studio which contained the Star Shaped bead palette and lid for storing your Aquabeads, along with the flip tray and receiver, a bead pen, water sprayer, templates and a selection of over 1,000 beads.
The Star Friends Set which acts as a refill set for the Star Beads Studio with templates to make various animals and plenty of regular beads and star beads.
The Star Bead pack which contains over 800 of the Star shaped beads in a variety of colours.
The Star Bead pack which contains over 800 of the Star shaped beads in a variety of colours.
If you are new to Aquabeads then the Deluxe Studio is a good place to start with plenty of beads and all the equipment you need to get started. Note: the Deluxe Studio contains solid and 'jewel' beads but not the Star beads described in this review.
You can find Aquabeads on social media as follows:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/aquabeadsuk/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Aquabeadsuk
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AquabeadsUK/
They'd love to see your Aquabeads creations shared with them using #AquaLockdownCrafts
Proud to be official Aquabeaders:
Some of our previous Aquabeads reviews:
Star Wars Playset Review
Finding Dory Playset Review
Toy Story Character Set
Despicable Me Minions Playset
Disclosure: As official Aquabeaders, we were sent the Aquabeads Star Beads Studio, Aquabeads Star Friends Set, and the Aquabeads Star Bead refill pack for the purposes of review. All opinions are our own.
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