I remember hama beads from when I was younger and then I passed them onto my sister and then she passed them onto a friend so I knew they were a brilliant creative toy that last ages.

Last year when I was looking at items for Christmas for my daughter I was looking at the Maxi Hama beads but then when I had a look into all the different options I decided that I was sure even though my daughter was only 4 she would love playing with them and there wouldn't be any issues with them.

I looked on Amazon as I had some credit on there and looked at all the options, there are so many different sets you can buy that I wasn't sure which to choose but then I decided that I would prefer to buy a basic set so that it could be added to over time. Hama beads are sold in just about any place that sells toys and you can buy huge tubs of them at really great prices in Ikea.

I paid about £10 for this set from Amazon with free delivery which I felt was a good price, the set was delivered quickly even with the Christmas service slowing down and I had it in plenty time for Santa!!

When I got the set I was actually a little surprised at how big the box was, on the front of the box you are advised that the set is for ages 5 and up and then there are loads of little pictures of what can be made from the hama beads to give you some ideas. The box is sealed at either end rather than the end just being folded in which means of course once open the flap does just that flaps about and doesn't hold the box secure so we have ended up putting the contents into a Tupperware tub.

Inside the box you get 7500 beads which trust me is an awful lot especially when they are all over the bedroom floor, a piece if ironing paper and 4 different shaped peg boards along with a little booklet which folds out into a large piece of blue backed thick paper with lots of ideas on for what your child can make.

To use the set you take the beads which are basically hollow tubes of plastic and comes in a wide range of colours and you place one over each little spike on the white plastic board. Once you have filled the board or as much of the board as you wish to you can use the ironing paper to place over the design and using a hot iron you go over and over it to melt the beads and fuse them together.

My daughter was learning about patterns at school when she got this set and she spent ages making patterns on the boards and then getting me to iron them only for her to break them apart again, she didn't seem to understand that once the beads are melted you cannot use them again. Once the beads are melted the top just looks the same as the beads did separately but the back is all melted together so there are two different effects. The set contains a couple of little stands also made out of the hama beads for your child to stand their creations into.

My daughter really loves this set and does play with it nearly every day, she plays happily in her bedroom with the beads as she has a 2 year old sister and they are no good near her due to the small pieces being a choking hazard.

This is a great set which provides hours of fun and it was a great price too, my daughter enjoyus making the designs simply to take them apart and do it all over again which means we still have plenty of beads. There are also character sets available such as Hello Kitty and Disney princess which I am looking into for Christmas this year as I know she will love more of them. He only drawback is that the designs even when ironed are not very string and need to be handled with care but of course most 5 years olds are pretty heavy handed.