A Newbie!

new·bie

ˈn(y)o͞obē/
noun

informal

plural noun: newbies

1.  an inexperienced newcomer to a particular activity.

Tyson is latching onto all of the "trends" at school.  Yesterday's "trend" was the fortune teller aka "the oldies, but goodies."  Last week, he began experimenting with "Loom Bands".  Sounds a little hippy.  LOL!  Anyways, it's the LATEST, GREATEST, and HOTTEST trend right now.  Basically, loom bands are rubber band bracelets, created in any colorful pattern that your little heart desires.  

We started off with the inexpensive bands from Ollie's.  They had every single color imaginable, but Tyson chose these two packs. I wanted to make sure Tyson was really going to enjoy this before investing in the "kit".  

Here ya have it... Tyson proved me wrong.  He really put these bad boys to use. The kids make their own color combinations and then trade them at school.  Tyson wears about 7-10 on his arm each day (grrrr) and when he gets off the bus, he shows me the new ones he traded each day.  Some of his color combinations have been: "Go Glenvar", "Breast Cancer Month", "Rainbow", "Virginia Tech", "Eagles", and "Falcons".

This activity has been doing a great job keeping him away from video games, so I bought him the kit. I also wanted to reward him for the 100% tests he keeps bringing home.  The kits ARE NOT cheap.  They are sold at Michael's.  When I walked into Michael's the "Rainbow Loom Band" display was THE FIRST thing you see.  I guess they are sick of their customers asking what aisle they are on. The display didn't have a single kit available, but I was in luck because a "truck" just arrived with the kits.  I waited for her to unload the kit and surprised Tyson yesterday.  He was thrilled. 

It looks like a $5.00 kit, right? WRONG!  Depending on WHERE you buy it, it ranges from $17.99 (Michael's) to $29.99 (Amazon).  The WORST part is that these kits are in such high demand that merchants are NOT allowing you to use ANY coupons.  

The kit came with over 600 latex rubber bands, which supposedly makes up to 24 bracelets.

It looks pretty intimidating.  I am surprised that Tyson has an interest in doing this, but I am so psyched about it.  

Being we are a family that thrives off of organization (yes, every single one of us, not just me :), Tyson requested a box to organize the bands.  This box made the most sense to me.  

This activity is a wonderful way for Tyson to be creative.  I love watching him make these. He's so calm and oh so into it.  See a video clip below of Tyson making them.  He follows some girl on youtube, who makes beautiful loom band bracelets called "starbursts".  After each step, he pauses her video to complete the step.  The majority of his creations have been bracelets, but he has made a necklace as well.  I just saw that you can make rings, so I am going to challenge him to make me one.

The ONLY downfall to this activity... take one guess... YES, you guessed it, you find those darn bands ALL over your house.  In the drier, the floors, the bed linens, pockets, etc. 

When Tyson finishes the starburst bracelet, I will update this post, so if you are curious how that differs from the 14 bracelets, above, come back to this post tomorrow to see the finished look.

UPDATE **He finished** It's not the starburst bracelet. He had to take a break from making that one for a while.  He made the rainbow ladder, loom bracelet first.