This past school year, Cubby and Calvin's teacher (it was a grades 4-6 class, so they were together) had a "classroom economy" in which the students earned money for different things. And then every nine weeks, there was a class auction where they could use their classroom money to bid on various items the teacher provided.
It was in this way that the insidious foam beads entered my home.
If you're not familiar with these, they're a sort of modeling product made out of tiny little balls of foam about the size and appearance of Nerds candy. They stick together and they never dry out. It sounds like such a good idea. No mess like playdough! No drying out like modeling clay! Reusable over and over!
It is not a good idea.
The beads stick together, yes, but they also stick to EVERYTHING ELSE. To backpacks, to floors, to Jack's unfortunate stuffed cat that now has a permanent coating of little foam beads adhered to its fake fur. And although they do stick to each other, once they stick to something else, they separate into teeny tiny little pieces that have to be picked off one by one.
I shudder to think what might happen if a toddler got this stuff in their hair.
In addition to the tendency to get stuck to everything, the material also collects dirt and other debris. So if, say, a child were to drop their little ball of foam beads on the filthy school bus floor? Forget it. It's now trash.
And on top of all of this, my kids don't even like playing with it. They can't really build anything substantial to play with, like they can with modeling clay or even playdough.
Both of the older boys brought some home. Cubby generously shared some of his with his two youngest siblings. This means that I now find little bits of this wretched substance all over the place. And I throw it away whenever I think I can get away with it. Despite that, I know it will haunt me for years.
So, in conclusion, if you are considering a gift for a child, either your own or (especially) someone else's, do yourself a favor and avoid foam beads like the plague.
Like you don't have enough to do already, right?
ReplyDeleteThose look even worse than the sticky hands our dentist gives out. (Those cling to walls and leave marks on the paint.)
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter gave me some of these for my birthday 2 years ago. I think I might have "accidently" lost them a few months ago.
ReplyDeletePam in Maine
Kinetic sand ... same. Who in the world thought that indoor sand would stay in its plastic-tray sandbox for more than, oh, 16 seconds?! C'mon. Never had kids.
ReplyDeleteKaren.: We got some of that as a gift at our old house. I saw it for what it was immediately, however, and laid down the law that it was ONLY to be played with on the front porch. Luckily, we got it early in the summer, so by winter, it had disappeared and I didn't have to fight any battles about indoor sand.
ReplyDeleteMy primary childhood memory of these is how awful I thought they smelled.
ReplyDelete