This automatic stringing machine includes 37 large shape charms, 36 small shape charms, 12 small charms, 12 end fasteners, 3 keychain attachments, 4 large spacers, 4 small spacers and over 9 1/2 feet of clear elastic string.
- Product Dimensions (inches): 11.3 (L) x 11.3 (W) x 9 (H)
- Age: 5 to 10 years
This review is from : Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner
Lots of entertainment! . My 8 year old couldn't wait to get her hands on this jewelry making kit. She loved it and found it to be lots of fun. Within 30 minutes she had created a bracelet ad a key chain.Some parental help may be needed - my daughter found it a bit tricky to get the charms into the threader, and she also found the charm stoppers to be hard to close. It also took some muscle to pop the larger charms out the the plastic holder. However, those were minor issues.
Any girl who enjoys charms and beads and DIY jewelry will love "Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner."
Lots of entertainment! . My 8 year old couldn't wait to get her hands on this jewelry making kit. She loved it and found it to be lots of fun. Within 30 minutes she had created a bracelet ad a key chain.Some parental help may be needed - my daughter found it a bit tricky to get the charms into the threader, and she also found the charm stoppers to be hard to close. It also took some muscle to pop the larger charms out the the plastic holder. However, those were minor issues.
Any girl who enjoys charms and beads and DIY jewelry will love "Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner."
Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner Reviews
Perfect for a party . Great toy for the sleep over party, or just for a quiet play time. My girs have been playing with Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner for hours. We also purchased Whirl 'n Wear Charms Tasty Treats to replanich spinner when they run out parts.
Perfect for a party . Great toy for the sleep over party, or just for a quiet play time. My girs have been playing with Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner for hours. We also purchased Whirl 'n Wear Charms Tasty Treats to replanich spinner when they run out parts.
Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner Opinions
not so good . Not to easy for little ones to use my daughter is 5 and She. Ended up stringing the beads on her own ..wouldnt waste My money wish i could return product
not so good . Not to easy for little ones to use my daughter is 5 and She. Ended up stringing the beads on her own ..wouldnt waste My money wish i could return product
Not for the younger ages suggested . I gave this to my 10 year old granddaughter for Christmas. She is a very accomplished crafter. She is a 4Her who knits, crochets, paints, and I thought she would love this entry into beading and design. She screamed with delight when she opened it and shortly was involved in designing her first creation. The beads are very cute and were completely appropriate for her age level. And then...she tried stringing them.
That would be were the trouble started. The string refused to thread nicely though the beads. the clasps were all but impossible to connect.
Eventually her mom,(an RN), her aunt,(a systems manager for the military) and myself with decades of toy wrangling helped her and managed to get her first bracelet off the machine. It was adorable. And only ruined 4 expensive manicured nails.
Since that first fiasco, she has managed to use it a few times. however, it is frustrating enough that it now resides in the Closet of Toy Failures.
It does have a lot of design potential, so I gave it three stars. If we could figure out how to make it easier for her, I'm sure she would play with it often.
That would be were the trouble started. The string refused to thread nicely though the beads. the clasps were all but impossible to connect.
Eventually her mom,(an RN), her aunt,(a systems manager for the military) and myself with decades of toy wrangling helped her and managed to get her first bracelet off the machine. It was adorable. And only ruined 4 expensive manicured nails.
Since that first fiasco, she has managed to use it a few times. however, it is frustrating enough that it now resides in the Closet of Toy Failures.
It does have a lot of design potential, so I gave it three stars. If we could figure out how to make it easier for her, I'm sure she would play with it often.
Big disappointment . The cute charms suck you in....then you see the threader. Cute little exercise in total frustration. The threader drops the string. You cant get the string back through. Then you have to set the beads up again. Really, if you are gifted then perhaps it works fantastic for you. If you are just part of the normal human race and want to keep your hair...skip this toy!
Whirl 'n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner . Bought this for grand daughter for Christmas. It is fun for her but she is NOT able to really DO IT HERSELF. She needs help to get them right. But she love it. Thank you, Irene
An exercise in frustration . My mom gave this to my 5 year old for Christmas. The beads are cute, but beyond that, this is nothing but an exercise in frustration for kids and adults. Even my 7 year old got frustrated trying to make a bracelet. Small parts are meant to fit in an exact space that is hard for small fingers and led to much more dropping beads on the flooring and then crawling around hunting for them than it did actually making anything fun. The thread on ours also has a hard time "catching" and we finally ended up stringing ours mostly by hand. I would say the earliest age this is appropriate for is 8. 10 is probably an even better age. My 5 year old finally just got bored of watching me battle it and walked off. The spinner itself is essentially just a gadget to make some cash on and isn't worth the trouble. Just buy beads and hand string them the old fashioned way for a real arts and craft afternoon. No matter how cute the beads, I can almost guarantee we'll never get this toy out again so I can't give it more than a 1 star.
Cute final product but expect an adult to do most of the work . My two girls, ages 6 and 7, helped me make bracelets with this yesterday. The process was a bit frustrating, but they like the finished product.Positives:
*the charms themselves are cute and just the right style for my girls...I'm guessing that by age 9 or so, (when they might actually have a chance of using the product without so much help), the charms would seem babyish.*the bracelets actually fit them - most kids' bracelets we have purchased are too big for actual 6 year old sized wrists. These were pretty simple to custom fit to each girl*the bracelets are made on that stretchy string that allows the girls to take it on and off without fiddling with a clasp*the girls enjoyed selecting their charms and arranging them in order to design their own bracelets...however, their involvement with the process pretty much stopped there since Mom had to do 95% of the work from that point forwardNegatives:
*the larger charms are stuck into the package so snugly that they were hard to pop out. I started by telling the girls to select the charms they wanted to use, but they had no chance of getting those charms out by themselves*versatility is limited...if you want to use the whirl and wear spinner to make the bracelet, you have to use exactly 6 small charms and 5 large charms and alternate them: small, large, small, large, etc.*knowing how the clasps were secured to finish the bracelet, I definitely have visions of the entire bracelet popping apart at some stage since I'm sure my girls will stretch the bracelet a lot taking it on and off and playing with it on their wrists....I'm just not sure it's secure enough to be super durable, but we've only had them on for a day, so I'll have to come back and comment later on how long the bracelets last*the instructions were a little lacking. There were a few times where I really needed a drawing of what they were instructing us to do but didn't have one (they do provide drawings, just not all the ones I wanted). They also left out some important tips (I thought), but an adult fiddling with it can figure out the process in about 10 minutes.*most importantly, the fine motor control required is something *I* struggled with a bit, and I'm sure most children wouldn't be able to do this on their own. You have to line up the charms perfectly in the spinner. Some get seated nicely while others don't, so it takes a bit of manipulation. The trickiest part was to finish the bracelet - getting the two small ends of string criss crossed over the little clasp and holding them securely there while adjusting the bracelet size before pressing the clasp down...ugh. A bit frustrating even for mom. But it's not as if it was impossible or took 20 minutes to do...it was just frustrating and tricky but worked out in the end.Overall, I am giving the toy 3 stars. The girls LIKE their bracelets. But their involvement in making them was minimal, so I don't think they see it as a super fun toy. They chose their charms, but I had to get them out of the package. They seated them in the spinner, but I had to fix their positions to line them up properly. They turned the handle to thread them which took all of 7 seconds in one direction and another 7 seconds in the other direction - that was pretty much what they got to do. Then I took the bracelets off the machine, lined the strings up over the clasps, put them on their wrists to adjust them, shut the clasps and cut the hanging strings off. I think that now that we know how to use it, we could make a bracelet in 5-10 minutes, but the girls' active involvement would add up to about a minute. So my 3 stars is more for the final product which fits and is cute and that they like....and less for the product that produces the bracelets (and necklaces and keychains).
*the charms themselves are cute and just the right style for my girls...I'm guessing that by age 9 or so, (when they might actually have a chance of using the product without so much help), the charms would seem babyish.*the bracelets actually fit them - most kids' bracelets we have purchased are too big for actual 6 year old sized wrists. These were pretty simple to custom fit to each girl*the bracelets are made on that stretchy string that allows the girls to take it on and off without fiddling with a clasp*the girls enjoyed selecting their charms and arranging them in order to design their own bracelets...however, their involvement with the process pretty much stopped there since Mom had to do 95% of the work from that point forwardNegatives:
*the larger charms are stuck into the package so snugly that they were hard to pop out. I started by telling the girls to select the charms they wanted to use, but they had no chance of getting those charms out by themselves*versatility is limited...if you want to use the whirl and wear spinner to make the bracelet, you have to use exactly 6 small charms and 5 large charms and alternate them: small, large, small, large, etc.*knowing how the clasps were secured to finish the bracelet, I definitely have visions of the entire bracelet popping apart at some stage since I'm sure my girls will stretch the bracelet a lot taking it on and off and playing with it on their wrists....I'm just not sure it's secure enough to be super durable, but we've only had them on for a day, so I'll have to come back and comment later on how long the bracelets last*the instructions were a little lacking. There were a few times where I really needed a drawing of what they were instructing us to do but didn't have one (they do provide drawings, just not all the ones I wanted). They also left out some important tips (I thought), but an adult fiddling with it can figure out the process in about 10 minutes.*most importantly, the fine motor control required is something *I* struggled with a bit, and I'm sure most children wouldn't be able to do this on their own. You have to line up the charms perfectly in the spinner. Some get seated nicely while others don't, so it takes a bit of manipulation. The trickiest part was to finish the bracelet - getting the two small ends of string criss crossed over the little clasp and holding them securely there while adjusting the bracelet size before pressing the clasp down...ugh. A bit frustrating even for mom. But it's not as if it was impossible or took 20 minutes to do...it was just frustrating and tricky but worked out in the end.Overall, I am giving the toy 3 stars. The girls LIKE their bracelets. But their involvement in making them was minimal, so I don't think they see it as a super fun toy. They chose their charms, but I had to get them out of the package. They seated them in the spinner, but I had to fix their positions to line them up properly. They turned the handle to thread them which took all of 7 seconds in one direction and another 7 seconds in the other direction - that was pretty much what they got to do. Then I took the bracelets off the machine, lined the strings up over the clasps, put them on their wrists to adjust them, shut the clasps and cut the hanging strings off. I think that now that we know how to use it, we could make a bracelet in 5-10 minutes, but the girls' active involvement would add up to about a minute. So my 3 stars is more for the final product which fits and is cute and that they like....and less for the product that produces the bracelets (and necklaces and keychains).
Cons Review
Age What??? . I was excited to get this for my newly five year old daughter. She loves stringing beads and making necklaces and bracelets. The package says age 5+, so I thought this would be perfect. Well, I think the printers left something off the box. I think they meant to say age 5+5. This toy might be great for 10-year-olds, but if your child is significantly younger, be prepared for this to be Mommy and/or Daddy's not-so-fun toy.The larger charms come tightly secured in their packaging and nearly impossible for younger children to remove them. The smaller charms and other pieces come in little plastic packages that spew everywhere when you finally manage to get them open. The string gets easily tangled and is nearly impossible to untangle.Once you're ready to make the bracelets, etc., you have to put the charms in little slots with the holes aligned just right. Unless you are a concert pianist with very graceful fingers, you will probably find this next to impossible. A younger child with limited small motor coordination will likely find this completely impossible. Good luck. This step is probably perfect for older children who have decent small motor coordination but who still have small enough fingers. Once the charms are properly loaded, you swing the handle around to the left to thread the plastic piece that will pull the string. This must be done carefully or else you will dislodge the charms. Then you use the threader to load the string, move the handle back around to the right and, voila!, your charms are threaded (well, if you're lucky - sometimes the string inexplicably does not get pulled all the way through the charms.) Now you only have to figure out how to remove the string and the charms from the stringer, tie or clasp the ends together without letting all the charms slip back off. Again, good luck.By the time you've figured out how to do this and mastered the process reasonably well, you've probably used up all the provided string and charms. You will probably get about 6-7 bracelets or a couple necklaces. I'm guessing the company is more than happy to provide you with more string and charms for the mere price of a refill set. It's a gift that keeps on taking.I don't personally recommend this, especially not for younger children, but if your 8-10 year old daughter is into beads and is reasonably dextrous, and if you have a high tolerance for frustration and a budget for replacement supplies, you might give it a whirl. Frankly though, I think you're better off with a plain old string and some cheap plastic beads.
Parental help may be needed for those <8 . Got this for my 5 and 10 year old. Both love the product and enjoy the activity of creating a key chain and charm bracelet in as much as that activity keeps their interest (more on that below). However, we noticed a definite distinction in usability between the age groups. Our 10 year old can do everything herself but our 5 year old needs assistance, especially with the threader (noted by another reviewer as well).Product durability seems very good. Parents will need to assist in removing some of the components from the packaging. The supplied beads and thread will get you about 8 bracelets or necklaces (combination). Once the supplies are used up, you will need to purchase refill kits at around $12.00 a kit. And trust me, these are consumable items in that they go quickly. This is a simple toy. In that regard, after observing my children over the course of a few days, I believe most kids will use it once or twice and then forget about it. In today's economic times, that may be a serious consideration for many people. I just do not see the value given current price point. I believe at 60% of MSRP as listed on Amazon, it makes more sense in terms of value.
Product Image
Feature Whirl n Wear Charms Spectacular Spinner
- Grows with children- easy for yonger children to use but open ended for continued fun for older children
- Easy to operate- removes the frustration from the creation
- Also includes 3 keychain attachments, 4 large spacers, 4 small spacers and over 9-1/2-feet of clear elastic string
- Includes 37 large shape charms, 36 small shape charms, 12 small charms, 12 end fasteners
Product Details
EAN : 0020373030008UPC : 020373030008
MPN : AC03000
Brand : Whirl 'n Wear
Color : multi-colored
Weight : 1 pounds
Height : 3 inches
Length : 12 inches
Width : 10 inches
Binding : Toy
Manufacturer : International Playthings
Manufacturer Maximum Age : 10 years
Manufacturer Minimum Age : 5 years
Model : AC03000
Publisher : International Playthings
Release Date : 2011-02-01
SKU : 6B-353I-BK6A
Studio : International Playthings
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