Homemade Beads: 3 Ways

Stringing beads is a fun way to give boredom the boot. And most preschoolers, both girls and boys, enjoy taking a crack at it. Beyond fueling creativity, beading also has another trick up its sleeve: it helps young kids practice patterning, or sequencing, which lays the groundwork for math, reading, and science. You can buy a sack of beads at any craft store. But here are 3 inexpensive ways for kids to make their own beads, from scratch.

Pasta Beads

What You Need:

• 3 cups of uncooked pasta with holes (use just one type: penne, rigatoni, macaroni, etc.)
• food coloring in 3 different colors
• 3 bowls
• a measuring cup
• rubbing alcohol
• a spoon for mixing
• yarn
• scissors
• masking tape

What You Do:

1. Scoop 1 cup of uncooked pasta into each of the bowls. The pasta should all be of the same type.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring (using a different color for each bowl) to each. Stir. Keep adding a few drops at a time until the pasta begins to change color.
3. Add ¾ Tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and stir until evenly coated.
4. Transfer the colored pasta to a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (or aluminum foil) and let it dry overnight.
5. Once the pasta is dry, it’s ready for beading. Cut a piece of yarn into the appropriate length for your child’s necklace or bracelet, wrap a piece of masking tape around one end to make stringing easier, knot the other end, and set them to work!

Clay Beads

What You Need:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup salt
• tempura paint powder in at least two colors
• warm water
• several mixing bowls
• pencil, knitting needles, or toothpicks
• yarn
• scissors
• masking tape

This recipe is enough to make one color of bead. Double or triple it for each additional color.