May 12, 2014

All the Cool Kids are Doing It!



There's a new thing sweeping the country/world/universe, and I have no idea where I've been.  Hiding under a rock somewhere, and now it's hit me smack in the face.  The new thing, not the rock!

Have you heard of Rainbow Looms, the latest phenomenon entrancing our children, and enticing them into doing....craft!  Well, it's kind of a craft, there's the plastic loom to which coloured bands are placed strategically up, down and across, using a plastic crochet hook.

Bracelets, rings, keytags and numerous other brightly coloured items can be made, there are Youtube instructional videos online, charms galore, and more and more packets of bands to ask/annoy mum to buy I just want the glow in the dark, strawberry scented ones mum.

My 9 year old told me about these bracelets she had made with a friend at school, so off I went to buy her a kit of her own.  My 13 year old said she was too old for that baby stuff......this lasted a week and now she is loving it too.



There are always fads that sweep through school, and everyone catches on.  Remember elastics, jacks and yo yos?  These are the fun things I grew up with, and many memories were made. There were no ipods, ipads or Xbox when I was a child, so cheap entertainment was the way to go.

Apparently some schools have banned loom bracelets from school, because they are distracting kids from learning, and cheeky boys are flicking them like rubber bands causing facial injury to unsuspecting friends. Kids like to trade them too, and some groups identify themselves with specific coloured bands.

Like gangs. Schoolyard gangs rampaging through the playground with their coloured bracelets, it's all so exciting!

While I understand, schools want to maintain a sense of order, I love the fact that my children are doing craft, having fun, and not screaming at the Xbox. 

Some mothers have confessed that they love sucking up these bands with the vacumn cleaner, because they are the new Lego - they don't hurt your feet when you step on them in the middle of the night and they keep appearing in the most random of places like underwear drawers, my handbag and under the trampoline.

So for now my kids my children can enjoy this colourful, creative craze until the next big thing comes along. I wonder what that could be?

What fads did you love when you were a child, what keep you entertained?

3 comments:

Dream House Trish said...

We are loom crazy at our place as well Michelle. Our school still allow them but not in the classroom. Its nice to see the kids making them for one another, Good old fashioned fun!!!

Mimsie said...

What a wonderful idea. I feel someone told me a while ago about that new craft.
I remember when I was young using a wooden cotton reel with I think 4 pins stuck in one end and making things like bracelets etc. I guess this is the modern, more streamlined version, of that.
The colours are very beautiful.
Hope you and yours are still doing well. xx

River said...

Aaah! Mimsie remembers. The old Tomboy knitting, with a wooden cotton reel, four small tacks and a ball of wool. Most of the girls had them when I was in primary school and they would compete to see who could make the longest strand. I didn't have one and didn't learn how to do it, I just wasn't interested.
The finished, braided lengths of rubber bands look very similar to how the "knitting" turned out.