Beautiful Beads

I was browsing in my local thrift store this past weekend when I found a bag of assorted beads from broken necklaces among the craft materials. It was less than $2.00 so I bought it. I separated them into 4 bins, 1 per table and added some yarn segments. Today, I had 5 minutes of "extra" time. We finished a lesson early, and everyone was already at their table and I had a momentary loss of what to do. I spied the beads, ready to go, sitting on my desk. Viola!

The students used: fine motor skills, (especially important for the developing writing muscles) patterning and counting skills, and social skills! (sharing and negotiating).

I plan to keep these ready to go until the end of the year. Then I'll let each child make a necklace to take home.

Tip: I dip the ends of the yarn in melted wax. This helps keep the yarn from tangling and makes threading the beads easier because the yarn doesn't unravel. I usually dip a big supply during the summer for all yarn needs that come up.

You can also use pipe cleaners (chenille rods) to make bracelets.