Native American Bead Making and Necklace Making

During the month of November we study Native Americans.  One of the projects we did was bead making. It was rather easy for us after thinking through the activity and making it as easy as possible.  And our final result would be a necklace.

First we got straw pieces and some crayola model magic.  I love that stuff and its a different texture for the children to experience.  I thought it would be easy to mold, quick to dry, and light as I knew we'd make necklaces out of them.

Our first step was to mold the bead.  I showed the children how to make a ball and then put the straw piece through the middle of the ball.  I had to use a sharp pencil to get any leftover dough out of the straw.  We let these dry for several days, although we didn't have to.

Our next step was to put color on the beads.  I thought about many options... paint was on the top of my list... but I wanted them colorful so I opted to use markers to color the beads.  The children loved doing this so it was a success.

Next we strung our necklaces using the beads we made, straw pieces, and some plastic beads I had.  What fun it was trying to come up with a pattern!  Even the younger children had fun with this.  I always tape one end to the table when we string and when they are done I carefully remove the tape and tie the ends together.

And we all were excited to show off our beautiful necklaces we made!

Thanks for stopping by,
Rose