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The kids of Saint Michael the Archangel School's day camp romped through the fountain in downtown Silver Spring Tuesday, their wrists decorated in rows of neon colors.

The Silly Bandz craze has taken a hold of Montgomery County, said camp director Kelley Allen. Campers, ranging in age from kindergarten through middle school, go gaga for the colorful rubber bands that come in hundreds of different shapes and colors.

When on a wrist, Silly Bandz look like a squiggly rubber band. When taken off, they spring into a shape. Everything from glow-in-the-dark witches to purple princesses to half-eaten pizza slices can be spotted embellishing wrists around the county.

"They lay them all out on the table, and they look at what shapes they have," Allen said. "It's fun and it's colorful. It's a conversation starter."

The bands, which sell for less than $5 a pack, have been flying off the shelves all over the county. Area stores say they can't keep up with the demand. Allen keeps "rations" in her backpack to give to campers who display good sportsmanship or enthusiasm. Kids tell urban legends of friends who cover their arms, legs—and sometimes even necks—with the bands.

Quincy Allen, 8, of Silver Spring, is Kelley Allen's son and a camper at Saint Michael's. He has hundreds, he said, but picks out a few to wear to camp each day.

"Everyone should have them," he said he believes.

"Some people are friendly and share, and other people think if they lose one, they're not going to be popular anymore," said 12-year-old camper Arianna Marsh of the District. Her little brother cries when he loses one, she said, but people shouldn't get so upset. "It's just a rubber band," she said.

But for owners of toy shops and convenience stores, it's more than just a simple rubber band. Like most fads, staying in stock of the demanded product is nearly impossible, they said.

"They're selling like hotcakes!" said Elizabeth Brinkama, manager of Now & Then gift shop in Takoma Park. "We actually have another shipment in, but we have sold out twice before. ... I think partly it's the colors. It's also the shapes, and it's a harmless, colorful, fun thing for kids to trade."

Among the most popular types are rainbow, scented and glow-in-the-dark bands, store managers said. They come in packages with such themes as musical instruments, sea animals and snack food.

"They're so tradable, and there's so many different ones," said Brynna Scherloum, assistant manager of S&A Beads in Takoma Park. "People want to collect them. I think with that age group, it also has to do with choosing friends. It's sort of like a social marker where you give them to your friends."

Collecting Silly Bandz is a means to popularity and a conversation starter, kids agreed. When friends trade the rubber bands or give them as gifts, it helps you meet people, they said. They're also a fashion statement; some kids said they match their daily decoration to their outfits.

"When I saw that everyone was wearing them, I just started buying them, just like two weeks ago," said Shayvonee Mullen, 12, of Beltsville. "It's cool."

Mullen has 14 of the bracelets, including a turtle, a heart, a music note, a guitar and a violin, she said. Half the fun of the bracelets is the different shapes and colors, she said. Some kids can even tell the difference between brand-name Silly Bandz and knockoffs.

County school officials aren't sure whether the craze will last, but MCPS spokesman Dana Tofig said they are only banned if found distracting to the learning process. Currently, the school system does not have a countywide ban on the product, he said. With the school year over, the mushrooming of the fad seems to have come after the last bell rang.

"It hasn't been much of a craze at our school, thankfully, because at some schools, they can be a distraction," said Matt Devan, principal of Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring.

Devan likened the bracelet to similar fads that have captured the attention of school-age children nationwide in past years, including Pokémon cards and, more recently, the portable Nintendo DS video game system. Such fads are tolerated by school officials up to the point when they become distracting and take away from the learning environment for students.

"It's like the Pokémon cards, where they caught on for about six months and then everyone had to say, ‘OK, no more!'" he said.

Robin Lupia, assistant principal of John T. Baker Middle School in Damascus, said the school banned all bracelets in April when they heard about simple color bracelets that were supposedly being used as ‘sex bracelets' to mark which sexual acts the wearer takes part in.

"We were getting information about [Silly Bandz] at the same time we were getting information about some other bracelets where different colors represented different sexual acts,'' Lupia said. "At that point, we didn't know which was which or what they were, so all bracelets were banned."

After realizing Silly Bandz were different, teachers said they wanted to uphold the bracelet ban because some students used the bands as a slingshot or sold them in school. While the ban still stands, Lupia was doubtful it will still be in place when school begins again after summer ends. School administrators will have a leadership meeting with teachers and other staff next week to discuss the bracelets, among other topics, she said.

Karl Herchenroeder, special to The Gazette, contributed to this report.