Toy Review: Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory from Canal Toys*

[Ad-Gifted] Let your child’s imagination run wild with this super fun activity kit. Libby Dallimore reviews.

My daughter Margot is 9 years old and absolutely loves anything creative. Whether it’s painting, drawing, making bracelets or trying a new craft kit, she’s always asking if we can get the craft box out. That often means paint or glue, which equals mess!

So when the Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory from Canal Toys set arrived, both she and I couldn’t wait to try it as it meant maximum creative freedom with minimal mess. And it turned out to be a really fun activity for us to enjoy together.

What’s in the DIY Keychain Factory Box?

The Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory is a colourful 3-in-1 crafting kit that contains everything you need to create up to 10 personalised keychains. The set includes more than 250 different accessories, including:

7 x cute charms

10 x jazzy paracords

4 x colourful threads

7 x sparkly embellishment packs

3 x beaded keychains

20 x chain links

10 x snap hooks

There’s also a mixture of beads and three aqua charms which allow you to add water and embellishments to create really unique accessories.

Inside you’ll also find the keychain studio where you can store your bits and bobs and attach threads and braid tutorial cards.

What we liked about the Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory?

Once we’d set everything out, Margot was eager to get started. One of the things we liked most was how much creative freedom the set offers. The instruction booklet includes inspiration photos and ideas to help get children started, but there’s also plenty of scope to let their imagination run wild and create completely unique designs. No two keychains need to look the same, which adds to the replay value.

Everything is bright, colourful and appealing without being too childish. Pitched for 6+, I think Margot at age 9 is the perfect age to have full independent creative freedom with all the sparkly aqua charms and cute embellishments. However, some parental involvement is necessary such as helping to tie tight knots.

The braid instruction cards were a nice idea and provided guidance for different designs. But again, some parental support was needed. We – myself included – found some of the instructions a little confusing to follow, particularly when learning the braiding techniques for the first time. After a few attempts, we turned to YouTube for visual tutorials, which made the process much easier to understand. Once we’d mastered the basics, the braiding became much more enjoyable, but younger children may need a little patience and help from an adult to get started.

Overall, the Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory was a big hit. It combines creativity, personalisation and hands-on crafting in one colourful kit and we enjoyed spending time making keychains together. The wide range of materials, cute embellishments and endless design possibilities make it a great choice for crafty children who enjoy creating accessories they can actually use or gift to friends.

Where can I buy the Style 4 Ever DIY Keychain Factory and how much is it?

You can buy the kit from Smyths toys here for £19.99.

About Canal Toys

Style 4 Ever is a range of products from Canal Toys, the arts and crafts specialist. The products are aimed at capturing children’s imagination and are all designed in-house.

Canal Toys are the arts and crafts specialist is synonymous with fresh and innovative products, which are all in-house designed product ranges. Canal Toys is aiming to establish long term brands for the UK market whilst being at the forefront of the new trends with best-selling Art Lab, Style 4 Ever, So Slime DIY, So Bomb DIY and So Magic DIY.

Review by: Libby Dallimore

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* We were sent the toy in return for a review. All opinions are our own.