Zirrly Super Beads – Just Add Water
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Update: Zirrly beads no longer seem to exist.
My kids love crafting, so we were excited about the opportunity to review the Zirrly Super Beads. Super Beads are small crafting beads that fuse together with water. There is no need for any heat or glue.
We tested out the Super Beads Spinning Tops kit because we are studying physics this year. Creating spinning tops let my kids combine a bit of science with crafts. They compared how the different designs affected the speed of the spin.
Super Beads Spinning Tops
The kit comes with everything you will need to build three spinning tops:
- 2 peg boards
- 3 design templates
- plenty of beads, sorted by color in plastic bags
- 3 spinning top hardware pieces
- small spray bottle
- design tool for lifting
The kit was very intuitive for my children. I started to read the instructions, but in the time it took me to familiarize myself with the instructions, they had already begun crafting. You guys, my kids were so focused on this activity that my house was quiet. I was able to pour a cup of coffee and drink it hot while watching them work.
I loved watching my kids build their spinning tops. One child put the beads on the peg board in a logical and organized manner. The other child put the beads on haphazardly. This really shows their personalities – one is all about the final product and one care more about enjoying the process.
It really is quite easy. The first thing the kids had to do was push the small beads onto the peg boards. The design templates are underneath the clear board, so it is easy to follow the diagram. I do wish there were three peg boards since the kit makes 3 spinning tops, but I only have two children so this wasn’t a problem for me. Just know that if you have three children, they won’t all be able to make a top at the same time.
Once they had all of their beads on the peg boards, we just sprayed the sets with water and set them in the window for about an hour. While they were drying we cleaned up. The small plastic bags containing the beads do not reseal, so I dumped the leftover beads into a small zip baggie. From an organizational stand point, I do wish the bags had zip tops so it was easier to clean up and keep the beads separated.
After the recommended hour, one spinning top was dry and came off the peg board easily. The other wasn’t completely set and broke in half. The beauty of these beads fusing with water is that we just set the beads back on the peg board and sprayed them with water again. In another hour it was dry and we added the spinning top.
After using these tops for a little while, my daughter decided to make the third spinning top while her brother was out of the house. She followed the same procedure except this time she designed the top with her own colors and patterns. We have plenty of beads left over, so we may create a few more tops. The kit only comes with the hardware for three tops, but the pieces just push between the beads. This feature will make it easy to swap the hardware spinner onto new spinning top creations.
My children liked that they could use Super Beads completely independently. I liked that they could easily fix their projects if they broke.
Super Beads are available in several ready to use kits:
- Jungle Animals
- 3D Animals
- Birds
- 3D Car and Truck
- Spinning Tops (This is what we used and enjoyed.)
- Jewelry Set
- Mega Pack