How to Make Native American Bead Necklaces for Kids

Video Transcript

"In this clip, we're going show you how to make the Indian necklaces. You're going to take your string and you're going to want to make sure you cut it long enough. You want to cut it about 16 to 18 inches. After cutting the string, what you do is you thread one bead at the bottom. And you don't want to make this one bead too tight because you going to want to untie it at the very end of making the necklace. you wrap it around and you only make one knot. If it's a nice sticky type of threading. This is a hemp threading, so it sticks well. If you're using a string that is slippery, you might want to double knot it. Then you are going to take the beads and you'll feed them through one at a time. This is great because the kids have to sit and think about what their doing. And it's a lot of fun, great for socializing, and it teaches them a lot about the Indian culture. That things aren't always easy and some things you'll have to work really hard. For the older girls, what you could do if they don't want to do simple beading, they can do braiding. What you'll want to do is get different colored string or hemp and you put them in a line. You're going to want to make a tie around your finger, and then knot it. Now, braiding the string is just like braiding hair. But it's very important that the top stays still. You feed one over the other making sure they don't knot. Again, it crisscrosses one over the other. This is a lot time consuming but the finished product is wonderful. And something the kids have forever. This is a great thing to finish up your party with because the kids work really hard and they're very, very proud of what they've made. It is something that they can take home with them that would remind them how much fun they had at your party and all the wonderful things they learned about the Indian culture."