This Christmas my prekinders are making jingle bell necklaces! We will be using these to practice fine motor skills, math skills, and to enjoy them with music.
To make the necklaces, you will need:
- jingle bells
- green and red pony beads
- green craft cord
I bought all of my materials at Hobby Lobby, but any craft store would have these items. I decided to use the craft cord instead of yarn because most children don’t like the feel of itchy yarn on their neck.
The first step is to clip something on one end of the necklace so the beads will not fall off as the children are stringing them on. I use a snap hair clip. Some children will push the beads so hard, they push the hair clip off and beads scatter everywhere. I’ve found its best to wrap the string around the bottom side of the clip a couple of times and then snap the clip closed.
Step 2: String a jingle bell on the cord and stop in the middle. The craft cord frays easily, so it helps to wrap the end with a piece of clear tape. That makes it easier for children to string things onto the cord.
Step 3: Have your prekinders string some pony beads onto one side of the bell. Here’s where the math comes in. We’ve been working on AB patterns, so we made an AB pattern with the red and green pony beads.
Step 4: Move the clip to the other side of the necklace and have the children string beads on the other side of the bell.
Step 5: Remove the clip, tie the ends, and you have a jingle bell necklace!
Now my prekinders can enjoy the necklaces during the month of December as we sing Jingle Bells! We enjoy Jingle Bells by Raffi and SuperSimpleSongs, and Jingle Bell Rock by Greg & Steve. Children can ring the bells as they sing.
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