Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Crafty make |
| Disadvantages: |
fiddly |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Ballerina Music box
With grandma's birthday looming and a Little Miss who insists on making her own cards and gifts, this was her choice for something grandma could NOT live without!!
What can I make?
A star shaped jewel box with a ballerina on the top. Perfect for little people who enjoy making useful things.
What do I get?
Inside the box are all the "ingredients" to make a musical box :a two piece (lid and box) 3" diameter box (just right for knick knacks); figure of a ballerina (about 1" high); magnets, which are used to magnetically attach the ballerina to the box; gold music button; gems; foam tape; paint; brush; instruction booklet
Making the musical box…
The instructions are very good, and whilst they are in words and pictures, young children will still need an adult to help with the making of the box.
There is the obligatory warning to wear old clothes, and then we get straight to the nitty gritty of how to make the box. I would add a warning here to keep the thing away from very young children because there are small pieces.
The painting of the box is obviously very easy, and children will enjoy their own design skills. However, once the paint is dry and the jewels are on, adult intervention is necessary, because it becomes quite fiddly. The ballerina has to be attached to the magnet then the other magnet put under the box. This gives the effect of the ballerina moving- you open the lid and move the magnet, so the ballerina follows. Once this is done, then the music button has to be attached inside the bottom of the box. It is easy for an adult, but Little Miss is 5, and is was too tricky for her little fingers.
Website
The website has lots of information about the other kits on offer. It's worth checking out if you like craft kits.
www.creativityforkids.com
Price and Availability…
This kit cost £5.99
Available from some toy shops, the store finder on the website isn't much help if you live in the uk, because to find a store, you have to enter a zip code.
What we thought…
The pack suggests that there are 45 creative minutes in this kit, and at first, I did disbelieve this statement. However, given that children tend to take a lot of care when they are making something for someone, this estimation of time is about right. Little Miss took a lot of care in the painting of the box, and then of course, once it was dry, it took ages to decide where to put the gemstones for best effect. It's worth remembering that the paint is acrylic, so it won't come out as easily as water based paints…in fact, our paint pot still has green paint marks! We found that for our needs, 6 gemstones were just not enough, so we delved into the sequin box!
The kit does require adult intervention, but if you are willing to go through the process with the little person, then they will enjoy watching the
musical box take shape. It suggests that the kit is for people from 6-96, but I would think that even at 6, some of the fiddly bits need an adult to help.
The press down musical button was especially popular, as was playing around with the magnets, and making the ballerina move about the top of the box…get a few scientific facts in here!
The ballerina is quite small, but is already painted, which has its good and bad points- it means that they can't paint a small object, but on the plus side, for children who may get frustrated with little parts to paint, we already have a beautiful
golden ballerina.
So, we now have a musical box with a ballerina on top, just right for grandma, and Little Miss took pleasure in making it, and will be delighted with herself when she hands over her gift.
For crafty children, it's worth a go. Everything's included, so no searching around for materials, and they do tend to like to make useful objects. We're going to have a go with some of the other kits…whose birthday is next…
Thanks for reading
Daniela
xx
