Hama beads- can a 5 year old do them with relative ease?

[Fayrazzled]

I was thinking of getting the Toy Story set for my just turned 5 year old boy. Is it likely he'll be able to do it with relative ease? He's not terribly dexterous but getting better and it would be good for him to practise something like this to improve his fine motor skills.(If it's too fiddly he's likely to get frustrated and jack it in.) I'm happy to help but he doesn't take kindly to too much interference. How long is one of the smaller designs likely to take? Are the designs on tracing paper so you put the pegs over the top or do you need to copy the design by counting beads?

Many thanks for any help.

you copy by counting the beads, he should be okay - it's just really annoying when they knock the dish of beads on the floor!

Borderline I'd say. Mine have just about started to do hama beads at 5, and they are all pretty dextrous I'd say. So yes they can, some of them, do it at 5, and you can always put it away for a few months if he can't do it.

It is fiddly though, I haven't got the patience for hama beads myself.

Thanks for your comments. We'll give it a go and if it's a nightmare I'll put it away until he's a bit older.

They have to do them on their own. You can't really help. The only thing you would need to do with a five year old is the ironing bit.

And let them do the hoovering too. This is a major part of hama beads.

My DD2 (just 6) has been doing them for a little while. She finds it easier to pick them up with tweezers.

DD was using Hamabeads at 5y. I found she referred doin her own patterns at that age, rather than following the set designs though.