Pre-Teen Summer Birthday Crafts

Kids love to make things; it occupies them constructively and they get a birthday party favor.

Summer crafts are simple to assemble while giving preteen kids a sense of accomplishment and providing the birthday child with a toy and everyone else at the party with a party favor to take home. The crafts are simple enough so that the kids can follow directions while exercising some creativity on their own. A group craft project constructively occupies the kids and teaches them something new while at the birthday party.

Patriotic Charm Bracelet

Before the birthday party, visit a craft, hobby or bead store for enough embroidery floss, beads and charms to make the bracelets. While you can estimate 2 feet of embroidery floss per child to allow for mistakes, beads and charms come in many different sizes. Loosely measure your child's wrist and use it as the standard for each child. Choose from among the different sizes of beads and charms that are available to determine how many you want to allocate for each child to make for a full and attractive bracelet. All materials should be available and ready to use on the day of the party. This is a group project that will keep everyone entertained and occupied. Adult volunteers assist each kid in measuring his wrist. Allow the kids to choose bracelet charms such as American flags; red, white and blue stars; and enough red, white and blue beads to fill in the spaces between the charms. Guide the kids through piercing one end of the string with a safety pin to form a barrier so the charms and beads don't fall off as they are strung on the bracelet. Start off with a charm then string one each of a red, white and blue bead, and then another charm. Continue the process until the bracelet is complete, remove the safety pin and tie the two ends of the embroidery floss together. You can make the bracelet two to three times the size of the kids' wrists and they can loop it over several times for greater effect.

Thank You Heroes Necklace

You will need 2 yards each of red, white and blue embroidery floss and a set of large alphabet beads for each birthday party guest. Adults will need to teach and assist the kids in learning how to braid. Braid the floss together tightly and use red, white and blue beads to separate the words the child wishes to say and then string the alphabet beads in the middle with beads running around the kid's neck. The excess floss can be tied off and fall down the back of the wearer. Spell out "Thank You Heroes" or the message of your choice. If there are kids with family members in the service, they'll be especially interested.

Toe and Ankle Bracelet

This toe and ankle bracelet has a distinctive look and shouts "summertime." Cut a 30-inch length of elastic cord and dip the ends in glue to make them rigid so the beads can be easily strung on them. String 12 beads of different tropical colors, such as blue, green and brown, to the middle of the elastic. There should be enough beads to encircle the child's second toe. Push both ends of the string through a 4 mm bead to form a barrier so the beads around the toe do not move. Slide approximately 1 inch of beads on each string and push another 4 mm bead over both strings to form another barrier. Repeat the process until the doubled embroidery floss reaches the ankle, then push another 4 mm bead down the string to hold the beads in place at the front of the kid's ankle. Separate the strings, and place enough beads on each string to encircle the ankle. Place another 4 mm bead on the elastic string at the back of the ankle and tie it off.

Scooter or Bicycle Decoration

An excellent craft activity for a birthday party is to make decorations for the handlebars of the child's scooter. The decoration is in the form of handlebar grip streamers and each kid can decide how to individualize her decoration. As one example, make streamers by cutting six pieces of thick mono-filament to 3-foot lengths. Tie a football charm securely on the very end to keep the beads and other charms from sliding off. Next, have the child string 6 inches of alternating colors of his favorite team on the mono-filament and then place a helmet charm on the mono-filament. Have him continue alternating beads and charms until he reaches a point 2 inches from the middle of the mono-filament. Tie another charm here and then measure 4 inches from this point and tie off another football charm leaving the 4 inches in-between empty. Repeat the same charm and beading process on the other side of the mono-filament until you reach the end and tie it off with a football charm. Do the same thing to the other two pieces of mono-filament. Use the 4 inches in the middle of each mono-filament to attach it to the handlebar grips, giving the kids six streamers on each handlebar. The birthday party host should have charms, beads and embroidery floss that appeal to both boys and girls.

References

• MakingFriends: Summer Crafts
• Celebrations: Spring Party Ideas
• Celebrations: Summer Crafts