This craft project lets preschool kids make their own beads out of clay or modeling dough. The kids can design the beads in any shape or color they wish. Help the carefully poke a hole through the beads with a bamboo skewer before you let them harden. This allows the kids to easily string their homemade beads once they're ready.
Homemade jewelry is a very basic use of beads for preschoolers. Pony beads are a good option because most preschool kids can grasp and string them easily. They are also relatively inexpensive and easily accessible at any craft store. The kids can thread them onto string or stretchy cord using a plastic needle. Necklaces and bracelets are common options for preschool students.
Using a pipe cleaner to hold beads allows preschool students to make their creations into any shape they want. After stringing the beads and twisting the ends together, help the kids twist the pipe cleaners into the desired shape. They can hang the shapes on a Christmas tree for simple homemade ornaments. You can also tie ribbon to the shapes as the hanger.
Colorful beads naturally lend themselves to sorting and pattern activities. Have the preschool students sort the beads by color. They can then create different patterns based on the color. Have the kids string their patterns onto a pipe cleaner so the beads stay in the correct order. Another option is to have the kids glue their color pattern beads onto a large craft stick.
Gluing beads to a piece of paper creates a colorful collage-type picture. For more variety, provide the kids with other materials to glue to their pictures. Things such as ribbon, craft sticks, dry beans and dry pasta work well to add accents to the pictures.
Dry pasta is a simple option for making your own beads. The variety of pasta shapes gives plenty of options for the beads. Mix food coloring with a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol to color the pasta. Once the pasta is dry, the kids can string it just like they would plastic beads.