Disclaimer: This post has been produced in partnership with Nexus. We were not paid for this article, but goods were sent in exchange for an honest and frank review. 

We had actually been considering buying this item on our recent visit to the Childcare Expo when we visited the Nexus stand and so we were elated when these arrived with our parcel!

Whilst it was nice to see a more attractive and inventive variation of the traditional threading toys and resources we had previously encountered, our initial thoughts were that this product was actually very tricky to use – even for us as adults!

The concept of these threading boards is that you initially use a plastic pencil shaped instrument, in which you thread the lace through before pushing the threaded lace and the tool through the hole in order to begin threading and then repeat and continue to do this through the numerous holes on the board. (A more challenging, but creative rubber designed threading board.)

We introduced and role-modelled this process to the children (mainly our older cohort aged between 3-4 years.) and whilst they were interested and highly motivated and determined as they challenged their fine motor skills and co-ordination in order to complete the process, it was definitely incredibly challenging and perhaps a product better suited for an older age group (perhaps 6+).

Overall, a fascinating concept, an interesting variation on a traditional activity, but very challenging for Early Years aged children and so a product we will definitely incorporate into our after school and school holiday activities for our older children who may find the process less challenging and be able to use the product to it’s full potential.