Bendaroos are construction-type / craft toys for kids, a bit like a cross between Plasticine and Lego. They take the form of maybe 20cm lengths of string, coated in a skin of brightly coloured, sticky wax-like material. They are highly flexible - and sticky, and can be made to stick to one another as well as being bent back on themselves and rolled / stuck into spirals, flower shapes, etc. They're also reusable (to some extent) and anything you've made from them can be unravelled quite simply and re-formed into new shapes.

The Bendaroo strings are available in various sizes of packet - from the basic £5 kit that contains about 80 pieces in a range ofseven colours, to huge multi-packages with hundreds of strings selling for up to £20. There are also smaller 'bespoke' themed kits - such as space astronaut etc. which contain strings appropriately coloured to build certain set-ups (eg. in the case of the space kit - spaceships, spacesuits and so on) together with crafting ideas for how the various items can be made up. I understand that he strings can be cut (with a special 'Bendaroo' tool) and then re-stuck afterwards, but we haven't tried this ourselves as yet.

They don't seem to dry out even if left out of the bag for a while (which is a bonus) but you will need some sort of covered tub to keep them in, as otherwise once out of the packet, they tend to fall on the floor and get spread absolutely all over your home. They also stick to paper (so you can make pictures) and glass and smooth plastic surfaces....but you tell me whether that's a selling point, versus a disadvantage, or not.

The strings are intended for kids age three and up. Younger kids will need a bit of instruction before they get the idea of what can be done with the strings.

As for playing with, Bendaroos I'd say are essentially a partial success. They can be stuck / restuck quite easily, and I'd say work best for making two-dimensional (I mean flat) figures / structures. 3-D figures, although they can be made based on a 'coil pot' type of structure, are heavy on Bendaroos (they get used up for the internal structure) and also inevitably come out with a slightly odd ribbed appearance, by virtue of the nature of how Bendaroos themselves are constructed.

Where the craft sticks fall down a little I'd say is in their excessive stickiness. They do leave a noticeable residue on the fingers after you've handled them which is a bit unpleasant (although this comes off very easily - even with a wet-wipe) but it's no worse admittedly than the residue you get eg. after handling Plasticine. Also because of the sticky surface they strings tend to pick up 'dirt' - some of ours that got dropped on an apparently clean vinyl floor came back with bits of fluff stuck to the surface that wouldn't come off afterwards - and even though the sticks could still be used afterwards, they'd lost their lovely bright colours to some extent. This a problem in particular, with the lighter- coloured sticks (eg. yellow).

We got a starter pack of Bendaroos for my five year old to play with to see if she like the idea. I was reasonably impressed with them, but won't be buying any more until the sprog's a couple of years older, as I don't think she's getting the most from these toys as yet. So in my experience these play strings would be better for children in the over six years age category at least.