Klutz

klutz.com

Klutz started in Palo Alto in 1977, when three Stanford graduates stapled beanbags to a book called Juggling for the Complete Klutz and sold the whole thing as one package. Instructions bound to the materials became the house format: friendship bracelets, paper airplanes, air-dry clay, LEGO chain reactions, each shipped with the string, paper or plastic already in the box. Nelvana bought the company in 2000, Scholastic in 2002, and the catalogue still runs to hundreds of titles.

It suits parents who want an afternoon handled without a screen and without a shopping list; most kits sit in the 4 to 12 age band, and the writing is funny rather than cloying. Less useful for teenagers or serious hobbyists, who outgrow the supplied materials fast. Check the contents list before buying: once the beads or clay are gone, refills come from a craft shop, not from Klutz.