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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of Fun for Busy Little Artists!
I bought this kit for my 2 granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. It is simple, clean and lots of fun for them. The final product is so cute and they love to play with their home made bugs! They are raising butterflies from caterpillars, so this fun little project intensified the enjoyment of their current interest in bugs.
Although the project is simple, they do...
Published 8 months ago by Linda R. Hendrex
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It's an ok toy, just needs extra glue
The cuteness factor is huge. I'm not sure what the educational value of this toy is though. If you are looking for some type of arts and crafts activity that your child can really learn from, I suggest spend your money elsewhere. I used it solely as a "rainy-day" no-mess project for my 3 y.o. boy. Even then it was of somewhat limited use - he would put a few stickers on...
Published 4 months ago by Y. McManaman
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of Fun for Busy Little Artists!, December 14, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
I bought this kit for my 2 granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. It is simple, clean and lots of fun for them. The final product is so cute and they love to play with their home made bugs! They are raising butterflies from caterpillars, so this fun little project intensified the enjoyment of their current interest in bugs.
Although the project is simple, they do need adult help and supervision. I do not mean that the adult had to do the project while the child watches - the kit has plenty of simple and rewarding tasks that a child can do for themselves while an adult instructs, but the adult caregiver needs to be completely involved. Count on a little bit of frustration and crying when attempting the first project. Our little ones experienced a learning curve, but after the first bug was completed, and they felt the satisfaction of having the final product, the other bugs went much smoother because they understood the process better and had a vision for the finished artwork. It has been a good patience building activity - they had to overcome some hurdles, but they experienced success in the end.
One BIG negative: The GLUE STICK has several problems:
The first con is that the adhesive is not strong enough, so the project keeps falling apart while in process. This could have been a disaster, and the tears were flowing freely until I got the idea to reinforce their glue jobs with a stapler. THE STAPLER SAVED THE DAY - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROJECT WITHOUT A STAPLER AND PLENTY OF STAPLES! And liquid school glue won't hurt to have on hand either. When we did the ladybug, the legs were made of Popsicle sticks which were too heavy for the glue stick adhesive, and too thick for staples. We glued them with school glue and let it dry overnight.
The second con is that there is only ONE glue stick! If you are working with only one child, this is not a problem, but if there are two children, you can expect them to fight over the glue stick. THE GLUE STICK IS VITAL, AND IS NEEDED FOR EVERY STEP OF THE PROJECT. Just realize that before starting the project that you need an extra glue stick for each extra child.
ALSO: I do not recommend trying to do this project with more than two children, unless they are unusually gifted, or one of them is older than 6 years old OR you have two or more adults to help. Some people think this would make a good party activity, but I say that is asking for trouble unless you have at least one adult for every two children. The projects are simple, but an average child needs plenty of help - especially on the first time. You will be in over your head if you try this with more than two small children at a time. The ideal is one on one.
This is a wonderful and fun project if you are prepared for the few minor pitfalls. My granddaughters have made all the bugs in this kit and are begging for another kit. I am planning to get them the paper bag puppet kit next! Really REALLY glad I got this for them.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Fun with my 2 y.o. son, September 29, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
I bought these for my 2 y.o. son. There are small pieces that are choking hazards, but I was able to watch him closely. It was very easy as they were in prepackaged bags, so we can choose which bug we want and open only that bag. However, because the paper plates are curved (like normal paper plates) at the edges, it is difficult to glue some of the pieces on. We've had a lot of fun doing it, but I'm needing to help a lot, and sometimes the glue isn't strong enough so I'm ending up stapling pieces on. They do look nice on his walls though, and he's asking to do more bugs!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great idea!, November 18, 2009
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
If you are like me, time crunched, busy and not so very artistic, then this is for you. I love doing projects with my son, but am not very artistic when it comes to ideas for projects to do. This is a great way to have time together and really create cute art. I have several different kits from Alex Toys and my son enjoys them all. He is 3, and he loves the glue and mess that art makes, he does not have a preference, but he likes looking at the pretty things we make. These art kits have saved me from endless hours in the craft store trying to buy all the separate things needed to make cute crafts with my son. You will love it!
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Fun Craft, August 31, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
This kit is adorable! It has everything needed for the creation of 5 super cute paper plates. My 4yo son loves this. I have enjoyed doing this with him as part of his craft time. I do recommend keeping a stapler handy as I found it easier to just staple some things to speed it along, and to keep it in place better, also we used a liquid glue which is really needed to glue popsicle sticks on the back of the plates. I would highly recommend this kit, it's very rewarding, and the end product is wacky, and adorable.
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The glue stick doesn't work, July 18, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
Poorly designed. The glue is not sticky enough to make anything adhere to the waxy paper plates. Useless. Helpful to read other reviews on improvised solutions. But what trouble. Do yourself a favor and order something else.
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Lots of fun and bonding with my 2 1/2 year old, June 14, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
My daughter loved doing these projects. I must tell you that the glue stick is not very good. I did have my daughter use it though for practice and I added liquid glue when she was done. Each project used at least one new decorating skill from the others. Also note that the directions may be on the bottom of the box and an extra set of stickers to reinforce the gluing. I liked that each projects materials were packaged individually. Made it easy to bring the caterpillar project to our campsite. I was able to keep my daughter quiet while my Mom was still sleeping. My daughter was able to create each bug in her own way. She asked everyday to do a new one. Some took two sessions. The bee is hanging in our dining room. The butterfly is on our front door. My daughter points them out to visitors that she made them and will have full conversations about them. We have since bought the tissue paper/ sticker box and are working our way through it. I bought the craft bucket for a birthday gift for her friend. Definitely worth the money and time spent making them.
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Fantastic Art Project, May 29, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
My 2 1/2 year daughter and her 20 month friend loved the plate bugs. The finished projects were so cute that we used them in our daughter's room for decoration. The glue stick is worthless on this project however just regular Elmer's glue worked well. One thing I did was glue on major pieces such as legs and let them dry before the kids finished the project. Otherwise they were tempted to pull off the pieces. I am going to purchase more of the Alex Art Series projects. They are delightful and keep the kids entertained for up to an hour at a time.
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Alex Little Hands Paper Plate Bugs, May 13, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
Unlike the sticker art, my three year old LOVED this kit and the projects it contained. Although the paste is mediocre (and some of the pieces that were glued didn't stay glued), she enjoyed every single bug. This kit is almost as good as the Alex Little Hands paper bag puppets. Now if Alex Little Hands made another two or three projects boxes, it'd be great.
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It's an ok toy, just needs extra glue, May 7, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
The cuteness factor is huge. I'm not sure what the educational value of this toy is though. If you are looking for some type of arts and crafts activity that your child can really learn from, I suggest spend your money elsewhere. I used it solely as a "rainy-day" no-mess project for my 3 y.o. boy. Even then it was of somewhat limited use - he would put a few stickers on here and there and try to glue some parts together, but would get bored with the process since it's, well, a no-mess one. He was, however, absolutely thrilled with the end results. Speaking of "trying to glue parts together" - the glue stick enclosed with the kit is absolutely inadequate (as is pretty much any other gluestick I tried on this project). It simply doesn't hold the paper plates together and the googly eyes don't stick either. I ended up using lots and lots of scotch tape and even glue gun (for the eyes and buttons). Which kind of makes the kit difficult for 3-5 year olds. That was my biggest disappointment with this set.
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Need strong tape, a stapler and better glue, April 8, 2010
Durability: Fun: Educational:
This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)
My daughter received this as a gift for her fourth birthday. We did the first bug project this afternoon, and although she was happy with the finished product, there were some frustrations along the way. There is no way these projects can be done exclusively with the included gluestick. In fact, we used the glue stick very little. Instead we used packing tape and some tacky glue to help hold everything together. I think a stapler probably would have been helpful too. The plates are tricky to join together because they don't lay completely flat. I did most of the "assembly" and she did the decorating. For the price, this does seem like a good option for kids who like to do projects.
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