Kids Crafts : Make Your Own Bracelets

In my Kitchen cupboard I have a rather large box filled with crafty items and activities for the children to do on rainy days, slow mornings and for when we have a couple of free hours that we're not sure how to fill..we call it my 'big box of crafty bits.' Inside I have all sorts of bits and pieces and yesterday, while Daddy was making a trip to the local tip, the kids and I selected some coloured elastic-strings and some pretty beads and decided to make our own bracelets.

We began by tying a large knot in one end of the strings so that the beads wouldn't fall off. The kids then, rather excitedly, selected the beads they liked the most and carefully threaded them onto the string. It was a great activity for them to practise their fine motor skills and, in the case of my youngest, help to develop them. He found it a little tricky at first but after some practise he soon picked it up and was adding the beads he wanted by himself.

When they had added all of the beads they could fit on a single string we tied the two ends together to create a bracelet and they hurried to put them on and show them off. They were very pleased with their creations and so was I..they look so bright and colourful and, thanks to my silly skinny wrists, I was able to try them on too. I was rather tempted to keep them ;)

You can find the items to create these bracelets in most high street stores that stock arts and crafts supplies. Some shops also sell complete bead bracelet kits such as these at Wilko's and these at hobbycraft but if you don't fancy venturing into town you could create bracelets with macaroni or pasta shapes and string/elastic. Happy making!