Kenya Kids Projects Part II: Jewelry
After finishing our first round of projects, we worked on Kenyan-inspired jewelry projects. I showed the kids photographs of the elaborate beaded ornaments worn in Kenya and throughout Africa.
African Collar Necklaces
Supplies: Paper plates, glue, beads, buttons, sequins, paper straws, and feathers.
Cut about 3” down the paper plate and then cut the middle out of the plate leaving a little gap or opening wide enough for the kids necks to fit through. NOTE: I had to round the corners for the kids so it wouldn’t hurt taking them on or off.
Decorate! Let the kids color them using paint or markers and then add the embellishments!
All done!
I remember working on this project as a kid and I loved how each “bead” would turn out completely different depending on the magazine pages color and patterns. The supplies are so minimal it makes for an easy project. I will warn you though, it is sticky and messy!
Magazine Beads
Supplies: Magazine pages/newspaper, scissors, glue, straws, string or yarn.
PREP: Cut strips of colorful magazine pages into long triangular shapes about 1” thick at the base.
Take a cut magazine strip and put the wide end under the straw.
Add a strip of glue down the length of the magazine strip and then firmly wrap the strip around the straw. This is where it gets messy! The glue will squeeze out but you can use the excess glue on the final “bead” to hold it all together.
Once it is wrapped, carefully take it off of the straw and put it down to dry.
Once the beads are dried you can put these on string or yarn to make a bracelet or necklace.
Wear & enjoy!
