Making Spinning Tops with Zirrly Beads – Review

 

My Little Man is a sports-lovin’ guy, but he has a crafty side, too.  He’s never crafted with beads, though, and he was super excited at the chance to try Zirrly Beads.  These Super Beads meld just with water – no heat required! – and though there are lots of neat packaged sets, My Little Man had his heart set on the Spinning Tops set from the very beginning.

He couldn’t wait for his Zirrly Beads to arrive.  He asked every day if he could get the mail and check for them.  It was fun to see him so excited!

The box was made of sturdy cardboard with a clearly labeled diagram of what should be inside.  It contained beads in several colors (enough to make the patterns inside plus some extras), a spray bottle, the handle and point of the tops, a tray for working, and a tool to use when manipulating the beads.

My Little Man was eager to open the box and get to work.  He chose a pattern and got it onto the base quickly.  We soon discovered that we needed a way to contain the beads, because they’re made out of hard plastic and will bounce and roll everywhere.  A white plate kept them contained and easy to see, and My Little Man enjoyed emptying each bag onto the plate as he needed the beads inside.

The tops are super easy to make.  The pattern fits into the tray, and the tray is clear, so you can see the colored pattern through it.  Then you match the beads onto the pegged tray above each color until you’ve completed the pattern.

My Little Man loved that part.  It was easy for him, and he could do it without any help whatsoever.  We sat together and talked while he put the beads in place, and he was excited to be finally making his top.

It looked like this when he finished.

The next step is to press the beads down flat.  My Little Man got really into the job.

When they’re pressed together firmly and are flat, the next step is to spray them with water.  The kit conveniently came with a small spray bottle, so My Little Man filled it up and sprayed away.  He set the timer for an hour, to give it time to dry as directions stated that it would need at least an hour.

When it was dry to the touch, he used the included tool to pry the beads from the tray carefully.  They came out easily and were stuck together exactly as they should be – with no heat, ironing, or other dangerous procedures involved.

The top spins really well, too.  My Little Man was happy to spin it all over.  I appreciated the way that the top was designed so that the colors would blend together with movement, making it look like an old-fashioned top when in motion.

My Little Man was so happy with his first top that he wanted to make another one immediately – but he wanted to design his own pattern this time.  My Big Helper thought it looked fun and wanted in on the action, but fortunately, the kit comes with enough supplies for three tops – and with two trays! – so both kids could make tops at once.

The bead count isn’t even by color, something which soon became apparent; the kit comes with enough beads to make the included patterns, so when we went off on our own, design-wise, the kids had to choose their colors carefully as uneven amounts remained, but they soon worked it out and finished building.

They moved on to the subsequent steps, but things didn’t go quite as smoothly this time.  My Big Helper’s beads didn’t stick together as well as My Little Man’s did.  She’s quite the stickler for rules, and she read them herself, being careful not to flood the tray as directed, but perhaps she didn’t get quite enough water on there.  It took a few tries before her beads stuck together to make the base of the top, but they finally did, and it worked great!

These tops were fun to put together and easy for My Little Man to build.  He’s turning 11, and he does a lot of robotics, STEM projects, kits, etc., and so he has lots of experience putting things together that involve small pieces.  The projects were laid out simply enough that someone much younger and with much less experience (although with supervision, because the beads are small) could definitely do these well.

 

I think our next Zirrly experience should involve one of these 3D kits – because it would be a bit more challenging to build, and because the 3D Car and Truck set has wheels!  My Little Man loves those.  I could see him playing with these for hours.

I think that this Mega Pack would be really awesome, too.  There are thousands of beads in this package – can you imagine what you could with these?My Little Man loved building with his Zirrly Beads , and he loves playing with his top, too.  If your child likes crafting or playing with beads, give Zirrly Beads a try!