Hair Wear 'N Charms

Copyright: KBkids.com

If you have ever walked through a hair accessory isle with an 8-12 year old girl, you know the attraction these clips, bows and baubles hold. You will also realize, they can be quite expensive. It is not uncommon to spend upwards of $5.00 for a single hair bow. Girls today also enjoy adding items to their pony tails and hair styles to personalize their look. This new program will allow your girls to make their own accessories from start to finish.

From the main menu, there are two selections to be made. You can either make zipper pulls and bag tags, or a more popular choice, barrettes, headbands, snap clips, elastics or shoe charms. The music playing in the background can become rather repetitive, so show your girls how to vary the music by selecting different music tracks. They will first select a square working area. This allows their pieces to be saved if they don't finish them in one sitting, or want to print more later. They will then select the general layout. The shapes range from hearts and stars, to ovals and flowers. From this point on, the program is much like other creativity programs on the market.

Your child can choose different colors or patterns for each part of the design. It is also very easy to import pictures from your hard drive, a scanner, or a digital camera. The ability to import pictures, and to add text, allows your child to make these items very personal. There are also several special effects available. Any picture can be flipped, rotated, shattered, swirled, or made to look like it has been magnified through a 'fishes eye.' Although some of these choices severely distort the image, they may give just the look your child wants.

Once the perfect design is finished, it is time to construct the hair piece. The kit comes with four sheets of plastic, one headband, one large barrette, one small, some hooks, and two pony tail clips. Be prepared to purchase refills. You may not use a laser printer with this program. Laser printers get to hot, and may melt the plastic sheets. Once the pieces have been printed, they are cut out and baked in your oven. It is fun to watch them shrink, curl, and wiggle as they bake. They look like they will be ruined, but they come out small, hard, and in very good shape. Assembly is a simple as gluing or hooking your items to the included barrettes, headbands, or hair clips. This is definitely a program where there will be additional outlay of money on your part. The use of ink and the materials needed, however, are not excessive. If you have a girl this age you know you will be purchasing hair items anyway.

This is not a terribly entertaining program as far the computer goes, and it is certainly not very educational. Girls do like doing special, and at times odd, things to their hair. This program will allow them to create just the look they want. The program is easy to use, and instructions clear.

Bottom Line: A fun way to create hair accessories which are so popular with 8-12 year old girls. Most items are rather modern looking rather than 'classical.'

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 3

BrainGain: 1

FunFactor: 3

EasePlease: 3 1/2

Amazon does not carry this program, but you can find it at http://www.cdaccess.com