Its been months since your kids ripped through their treasure trove of holiday gifts and again that familiar phrase is beginning to creep back into their daily vocabulary -- "I'm bored."  Well we have just the thing for you.  A Perler Beads set.  

What is this miracle of child engagement?  One of my favorite boredom busters, Perler Beads are a set of pegboards to which your child attaches small colored beads, creating different objects and people.  When they are finished placing the beads, you simply iron over their design to fuse the beads together, leaving your child with their own unique creation.  

Make sure to get the people or animal set so they can make dolls to play with.  Glue a popsicle stick to the back of the people or animals and you have instant puppets.

You can also go to the Perler Bead Website for cool projects and neat things to make out of perler beads.  Plus if you are a scout leader, teacher or daycare provider you can purchase perler beads in bulk sets at special prices directly from the Perler company (call 1-800-523-8452).  

There is also a similar product by a different company for younger kids. Available at Oriental Trading Company (see right) this set has bigger beads which are more easily manipulated by small hands.

Folks, this may be the ultimate weapon in the battle against children's ennui (perceived or actual).  Kids will sit for hours at a time creating varying designs and objects.  Great for kids aged 4 and older.  Even teens like to get in on the action. This may be the best ten dollars you've ever spent.




STUFF YOU MAY NEED



Perler Bead Set




Jumbo Fuse Bead Set -- (larger beads for little hands)

Add GLITTER to your designs for a great effect!  Before ironing, cover your ironing surface with paper. Place your pegboard with beads on top of the paper.  Sprinkle very fine glitter over the top of your beads.  (Coarse glitter won't stick as well.)  Cover with ironing paper and GENTLY iron.  Turn the design over and repeat the above steps!!