Suddenly, instead of finding a few rogue bands throughout the house, IвЂ™m finding 600 pieces of rubber scattered across the floor. ItвЂ™s amazing how much can change in a matter of days. Lily taught looming classes in the playroom after dinner and my heart almost burst as the three of them studiously sat side by side. Last week, the boys insisted on getting in on the вЂњfun.вЂќ At first, it was nothing short of adorable as Evan picked up the stitches in lightning fast speed, using nothing but his fingers. But still, she happily used it in doctorвЂ™s office waiting rooms, tennis practice for her brother and before bed. Her friends learned about them from video tutorials on youTube, and suddenly, ten year old Alli of internet fame trumped my daughterвЂ™s former tween idols as we fought over computer time. The single and fishtail were so over, with names like zipper and starburst becoming all the rage.

Slowly she began hearing about other stitches from her friends at camp. There was nothing not to like about the Rainbow Loom. It was a creative outlet, a new take on an old art. She made them for us, for her brothers, for her grandparents and for her friends. LilyвЂ™s time spent on her iTouch diminished, as she spent countless hours making bracelet after bracelet after bracelet. T-shirt bracelets.В Cut an old T-shirt into strips, and braid it into a friendship bracelet.A summer trend which, unlike Silly Bandz of summerвЂ™s past, actually required concentration and a learned skill. soda bottle wire.В An adult would definitely need to make this plastic wire, but a kid could craft with it.ДЎ0.

sailorвЂ™s knot.В You can make this bracelet out of anything remotely string-like that you have around your houseвЂ“think clothesline, fabric strips, plastic bag yarn, T-shirt yarnвЂ¦Д©. recycled weaving looms.В If itвЂ™s the act of weaving that your kid likes, and not necessarily the friendship bracelets, then try out any of these recycled weaving looms for more fun experiences.ДЁ. friendship bracelet on a cardboard loom.В Upcycle a piece of cardboard into a loom to make weaving embroidery floss friendship bracelets even easier.Д§. folded paper bracelets.В This is a great one, because kids can recycle their finished artwork to make these bracelets.Д¦. finger knitting.В You can make a bracelet using finger knitting, definitely, but once you know how, youвЂ™ll be surprised at all the other things that you can also make!ДҐ. easy friendship bracelet.В If youвЂ™re looking to make a traditional embroidery floss friendship bracelet, this is a great one to start with. button bracelets.В A kid could have a fine time stitching stash buttons onto elastic to make these colorful bracelets.ДЈ. beaded ribbon bracelet.В Kids will enjoy braiding stash beads onto this ribbon bracelet, and they can alternate between wearing it as a necklace or as a wrap bracelet.Дў. There are SO many ways to make friendship bracelets that do not involve tiny rubber bands on my carpet, tiny rubber bands in my vacuum, tiny rubber bands in the trash, and therefore many, many, many tiny rubber bands all throughout our wastestream.ДЄnd thatвЂ™s why, although I donвЂ™t want anyone to snatch Rainbow Looms out of the arms of their shrieking children, I do think that a kid who is obsessed with Rainbow Loom is a kid who would totally love being introduced to any of these fun andВ eco-friendly Rainbow Loom alternatives.ДЎ. Mind you, I canвЂ™t completely dislike anything that gets my kids creating, but there are SO many eco-friendly Rainbow Loom alternatives. So weвЂ™re not Rainbow Loom haters in our house, and yetвЂ¦ I do kind of hate them.

There are miniature rubber bands everywhere! Sometimes in the evening, my younger kid and I will hang out on my bed, watching YouTube tutorials and struggling our way through rubber band bouncy balls and keychains and hexfish bracelets. I canвЂ™t completely dislike anything that gets my kids creating, but there are SO many eco-friendly Rainbow Loom alternatives.ДЇull disclosure: My kids have two Rainbow Looms, and they LOVE them.

Rainbow loom bands