Loom band craze weaves its spell on Shropshire youngsters

But it would seem all they really want is elastic bands if the latest craze is anything to go by.

Toy shops have been swamped by a demand for loom bands – small elastic bands that are woven together to make a bracelet.

Staff at Shrewsbury's Pride Hill and Darwin shopping centres have described the trend as "unprecedented".

Toy shops are already cashing in on memorabilia from the Disney film Frozen. Only a few weeks ago shops all over the country raced to restock shelves after Princess Elsa dolls sold out. But they say loom bands are now taking over.

Claire Keay, who is manager at The Entertainer in Pride Hill Shopping Centre, believes the bands appeal to all ages and their popularity has already grown nationwide.

Mrs Keay said: "The craze for it has been completely unprecedented, I've worked for The Entertainer for six years and I've never seen anything like it.

"We are selling two thousand £1 packs a week and plenty of the £3 packs which include the loom and 100 little rubber bands – there are different ways of threading them and there are even YouTube videos showing you how to do it.

"It is making up 30 per cent of our sales – and not just here in Shrewsbury. Nationally they are at the same sort of level as well.

"You might expect that it would just be girls buying them but it's boys as well – there are even camouflage coloured bands.

"Parents are buying them for their children, teenagers love them and some schools have even banned them."

Other stores have sold out of the bands altogether. Poundland is struggling to get enough stock in and Ryman stationary shops say they have also regularly sold out in recent weeks.

Assistant manager of Ryman in Shrewsbury David Jones said: "We're just hoping for another delivery soon because they're like hot cakes, they've been flying out and now we're having to direct shoppers to other stores. You can't quibble when they only cost £1."

The bands were previously unpopular, and stockists have been left scratching their heads at their sudden surge.

Kevin Lockwood, manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: "When something takes off there can be no obvious explanation and it's often something quite simple and inexpensive.

"They just need to catch the imagination and the moment and off they go and that seems to be the case with Loop and Loom.

"It's amazing that in these days of so many sophisticated electronic and web-based toys and games something as simple as coloured elastic bands should explode like this."

But schools are not so tolerant of the craze, and many headteachers have banned the elastic bands because they are against uniform policy.

Teenagers are teaching techniques at playtime

Dani Rowlinson, 16, of Wellington, explains why she can't get enough of the loom band craze:

As I am 16 years old, my first reaction to loom bands coming to the UK was they looked fun – but that they weren't really for someone my age.

But now I know never underestimate just how additive these little loops of plastic are.

Throughout my childhood I have been obsessed with making scoobies (ornately tied coloured strings) and before that playing with Gogos figures. You name it I have had it or made it.

So my first instinct when the bands came out was to buy one pack, but that would probably be it.

The next thing I know my friend at school was given a pack of them as a joke for her birthday and so I told all my friends I had been making them and showed them how.

Little did I know that we would then spend the next two weeks making them every break time – along with all the other teenagers and primary school kids in the country.

It's really funny to see that basically every teenager or child around Telford and most of the country are wearing them, including some adults who have obviously been made them or have secretly succumbed to the craze also.

The reason loom bands are so popular is because they are addictive you make one and you instantly want to make more.

The process is a bit like doing a cat's cradle in the sense that you take the bottom bands and use your fingers or a special tool bought out to move them over to the top.

You repeat this process until your band is long enough and can have its ends joined up with a clip – a piece of plastic shaped like a small 's' that stops your band coming undone.

Obviously the big companies who make these elastic bands have seen a market for bringing out all different kinds and now scented fruit ones are sold along with bobbled and tie dyed ones. There are football ones too.

Loom bands are just so popular and the new bands are a must have in school and colleges as you can trade bracelets with your friends and compare the different styles and ways in which you make them.

Loom band facts:

• Loom bands were invented in 2010 by Cheong Choon Ng

• More than three million loom band kits have been sold

• They come in hundreds of colours - and some even have a scent like coconut

• The bands have been praised for encouraging creativity in children