Necklace Beading Instructions for Kids
Necklace beading is a fun activity for kids that exercises eye and hand coordination. Kids can create unique and personalized necklaces for themselves, friends and family. Macaroni, cut pieces of straws, buttons, handmade paper beads and Cheerios provide alternatives to store-bought beads. Smaller children should use larger beads with bigger eyes. Older children will enjoy working with seed beads and other items with small openings. Thread, elastic string, yarn, cord and ribbon all make excellent strings for making a beaded necklace.
Things You'll Need
- Multiple colors of pony beads
- Cord (string)
- Scissors
- Yarn needle
- Newspaper
- White glue
Instructions
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Pony Bead Instructions
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1
Wrap a piece of cord around the child's forehead. Hold the cord at the location where the cord meets. Remove the cord from the child's forehead. Double the length of the cord, then cut the cord.
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2
String the cord through the eye of a yarn needle. Pull a bead to the end of the string and tie a knot around the bead.
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3
Continue to string pony beads on the necklace until you have reached the desired length. Make sure the necklace will fit over the head of the child prior to securing the ends of the necklace together. Tie the ends together and cut off the excess cord.
Paper Bead Alternative
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4
Cut colored pages from magazines into 1 inch strips. Cut the 1 inch strips into 1-1/2- inch sections.
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5
Wrap the paper around a pencil. Place glue on the end of the paper and glue it to the wrapped paper on the pencil to make paper beads.
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6
Let the glue dry for 30 seconds and remove the paper from the pencil.
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7
Tie a knot in the end of a piece of cord. String the paper beads on a piece of cord. Tie the ends together to finish.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Vary your beaded necklace by following a pattern of the desired bead color count. An example would be 5 blue, 3 red, 5 purple, 3 red and then repeating the pattern.
Older children can use a thinner cord or thread and add different types of beads together to create a sculptured necklace.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit colored beads image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
