Annie has enjoyed having her little friend Audry to play this morning and Sophie also has a friend coming to play this afternoon. Pi has their activities all planned out. Hama beads first. For those of you without little girls, Hama beads are plastic beads you position on a pinned plastic board in a design of your choosing. Once finished, the piece is ironed to melt the beads together. You are then left with a colourful piece of plastic to clutter up your house. I didn’t see the attraction till Sophie bought some with her Christmas money. Both she and the boy’s and the boy’s friends and even Dada have spent time creating with the beads. Each masterpiece takes a minimum of half an hour to finish and keeps the children engaged in an arty activity with my only input being the ironing at the end. Felix and Jay even worked together on one, a sight not seen since they were younger and played with Lego. The only use of the end product, that I can see, is as a coaster. We now have lots of coasters to brighten up the dinner table which makes meal times an even prettier affair.