A couple of weeks back, I overheard my 11 year old son Aditya having an animated conversation with his school friend over the phone about some band called Rainbow loom. I thought that sounds a pretty odd name for a Boy Band. So when he got off the phone I asked him, “Hey, is this band as famous as One Direction? trying to show off how cool I am and that I am into the latest chart busters. Well his expression in response said it all and I knew instantly that was one more OOPS moment. I didn’t give up, I instantly resorted to what dads nowadays do in the event of any doubt – whisked up my smart phone and typed loom band in the YouTube search window hoping to find a video of a bunch of boys sporting torn jeans and hoodies doing a headstand while rapping their new number. What turned up instead was a video of a girl demonstrating how to make bracelets with color rubber bands!
That was my introduction to the world of loom bands. Rainbow Loom was invented in 2011 by Cheong Choon Ng, a Malaysian-born former seatbelt technology developer from Michigan, who noticed his daughters weaving elastic bands over their fingers to make bracelets. Ng tried it but his own fingers were too big, so he built himself a “loom” – a technology known to the clothing trade since at least the 15th Century – using pins and a wooden slab. His daughters were impressed with the more intricate patterns this allowed.
Ng developed a plastic version and set up a business manufacturing them, investing $10,000. He got a toy shop to stock his product and, after it sold out within a few hours, other stores took an interest. It spread from there and looms and bands can now be seen in schools and homes around the world.
In this era of babies playing with smart phones tablets and young teenagers living and breathing social media, it seems curious to find that rubber bands are a big thing. It helps build concentration, motor skills and helps children focus on building something creative with their hands.
Playgrounds and living rooms are under invasion from colored bands. Children (both boys and girls) are spending hours twisting them into bracelets, charms and rings. Suddenly one can see loom bands take over prime shop shelf space with different variants one can’t even image – rainbow colors, glitter, glow in the dark, why they even have scented ones now!
For me it was interesting and a relief to see my boys taking a break from their Nerf wars and blowing mercenaries in Call of Duty, and actually spending time creating something with their hands. It was a proud moment for me when my son came back from school the other day and said he had sold the loom bracelets that he had created in a school carnival for charity.