Make Beaded Candy Cane Ornaments

What You Need:

• Red and white beads with big holes
• Red, white, or metallic pipe cleaners

What You Do:

1. Twist a “knot” at the end of a pipe cleaner.
2. Ask your child what colors are on a candy cane. Tell her she will make a red and white bead pattern on the pipe cleaner. Red, white, red, white…
3. Have her stack red and white beads on the pipe cleaner. If it helps, repeat the pattern with her as she stacks. Say "red" as she adds a red bead and "white" as she stacks a white one.
4. When finished, twist the end again so the beads stay on. Ask the artist to bend the pipe cleaner to form a candy cane shape.
5. Hang it on your tree! Your child can make as many as she'd like to add to the tree or give as gifts.

For extra practice, ask her to count the beads on one of the candy canes or to count the candy canes on the tree. After all this hard work, share a real candy cane with your child!