Teacher’s Day 2014 – The Rainbow Loom Craze

Last year, I prepared these presents for her teachers in school and at HeART Studio, while she prepared a card each for them:

teacher's day gifts diy

Hop over here to see my presents from last year! Inspirations for the gifts from this post.

This year, I knew I didn’t need to do the DIY presents for my girl’s teachers.

Firstly, she’s old enough to make something on her own (besides a card), and secondly, our home hasn’t been spared from the rainbow loom craze so we unanimously agreed that she would learn to make rainbow loom thingies and gift those to her teachers.

So the deal was on and for 2-3 weeks, she worked hard to make rainbow loom bracelets and rings by watching videos on Youtube and practising more for each pattern she learnt.

She made so many so I allowed her to gift those to her friends and of course her penpal.

I started off learning with her so the first design I tried was the FlipSide bracelet followed by the Illusion bracelet. Her initial favourite was the Fishtail, then Starburst and then she discovered the Inverted Fishtail. Her current favourite is the Rose Garden (which she made for her teachers in school) but the most complicated one she’s done so far was for her art teacher at HeART Studio – the Flower Power Bracelet. Favouritism, much. [I’ve embedded the instructional videos we like for their clarity at the end of the post for your convenience.]

Modelling the bracelet and matching ring she made before leaving for art class

And here’s the happy duo:

She gifted her Berries teachers with a honey bee bracelet and a ladybug bracelet. As for her school teachers, she made Rose Garden bracelets for them because she’d worn a few designs to school earlier in the week to survey which one her teachers liked best and they both chose the Rose Garden so she came back and made one colourful version and a red/pink version. That’s my sweet little girl!

Apart from being her beloved mummy, I’m also her piano teacher, so I’ve got many bracelets too! But here’s the newest mommy-daughter set she made for us:

Anyway, my boy is crazy about these rainbow loom thingies as well so he’s been stretching out rubber bands on the loom (he’s made some patterns which resemble those we’ve been making so he’s definitely been observing!) and looping them. He managed to make half a ring with the fishtail design, with guidance of course, then his sister couldn’t take his turtle speed and finished it up! Hahaha.

Rainbow Loom-ing apart from being fun (though my hubby would probably not agree with that statement), works on the kids’ focus, will-power, determination, fine motor skills and problem-solving skills.

You’d have to put up with that random rubber band lying on the floor though in the midst of the looming chaos (couldn’t resist the pun!).

Anyway, if you do get a set, remember to purchase the original Rainbow Loom as the fake ones are pretty sharp and the rubber bands aren’t of good quality either. I confess – I did however start off with a cheapo set more than a month ago just to test waters and see if the rainbow loom craze had any benefits. Afraid of phthalates? It’s actually present in many of the plastics we use and even lotions to make them penetrate our skin better. I say we proceed with caution and moderation and remember to wash hands thoroughly after handling the rubber bands.

Finally, I’d like to say, this teacher’s day has been an awesome one! –

  • my girl took on the responsibility of preparing her own gifts,
  • persisted despite mistakes and rubber bands which snap,
  • learnt to solve the problem (initially I was the problem solver for her but she eventually watched and learnt)
  • and when she couldn’t solve it, then she just had to start from the beginning and live with that.
  • She loved the satisfaction of telling her teachers she custom-made the bracelets and rings for them, with them in mind.

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Here are some of our favourite videos (they are clear and easy to follow) for some designs we love, embedded for your convenience!

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One Response to Teacher’s Day 2014 – The Rainbow Loom Craze

  1. Gautham Lurk says:

    That’s some exceptional art. Wish i had read this blog before the teachers day, i would have done something similar.

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