PlanToys Wooden Threading Beads & Sorting Tray - 60 Beads & 3 Laces

The PlanToys Threading Beads set includes 60 colourful wooden beads, three laces and a beautiful divided wooden sorting and storage tray, giving children lots of ways to thread, sort, count, sequence, make patterns and explore loose parts play. There are 12 beads in each of five colours: yellow, dark blue, light blue, green and red, with enough pieces to make long repeating sequences, invent patterns or simply experiment with colour and arrangement.

Threading the wooden beads onto the laces is brilliant for fine motor control, hand-eye coordination and wrist movement. Children need to hold the lace steady, line up the opening, guide it through and pull the bead along, building precision and purposeful movement with every piece. PlanToys also highlights concentration, perseverance, planning and sequencing, skills that feed into later pencil control and everyday self-care tasks.

There is plenty of early maths here too. Children can sort the beads by colour, count them, copy and extend sequences or create their own repeating patterns. Start with something simple such as red-blue-red-blue, then move into longer or more complicated sequences as confidence develops. With 60 beads and three strings, there is enough here for children to make several patterns at once, compare them or play together.

The beads do not have to stay on the strings either. Used as loose parts, they can be sorted, counted, lined up, grouped, arranged into patterns or incorporated into flat lays and other creative play. This gives the set a much more open-ended feel than a traditional lacing activity and lets children approach the same materials differently depending on what interests them that day.

The divided sorting tray is a lovely part of the set in its own right. It keeps the five colours organised for threading and pattern work, but can also be used independently for sorting, counting or setting out other loose parts and small play materials. When play is finished, it becomes a neat storage container for the beads and laces, helping keep all 60 pieces together. PlanToys specifically designed the container for organisation and storage.

The curved tray also shows off one of the interesting ways PlanToys works with wood. PlanToys makes its curved plywood in its own factory, peeling reclaimed rubberwood into thin layers, bonding them with no-added-formaldehyde adhesive and compressing them into smooth curved forms. It makes efficient use of the rubberwood while creating the beautifully finished tray that comes with this set.

Threading Beads is part of PlanToys' Montessori-inspired collection, and it fits that approach naturally: a focused hands-on activity, repetition, concentration, purposeful movement, pattern work and plenty of opportunity for children to observe and correct their own work. PlanToys describes the set as supporting observation and self-correction through hands-on exploration.

A lovely birthday or Christmas gift for children from 3 years, particularly for those who enjoy threading, sorting, patterns, colour and small loose parts play. There is plenty to get started with straight away, but enough freedom for the set to be used in increasingly complex ways as skills and ideas develop.

Made sustainably in Thailand from rubberwood using water-based dyes and PlanToys' no-added-formaldehyde adhesive.

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.