The 31 Days of Love series contines. We have brought you fabulous Valentines Cards and now we are looking at a great set of Valentines Gifts that kids can make. Amanda from The Educators Spin On It makes fabulously personal DIY beads.
It is such a delight to be participating in the 31 Days of Love at Red Ted Art. I am Amanda Boyarshinov, a book loving, dig in the dirt, run around the yard, hands on kind of mom who writes at The Educators Spin On It. At our house, we enjoy making home-made gifts and Valentine’s Day is no exception.
This year, my seven year old asked to make penguin bracelets for her friends. We assembled and baked our own penguin beads, then built the first bracelet. Deciding that half the fun was in making your own bracelet, we put the supplies into little bags, attached a sweet message and made, “Build Your Own Bracelet Valentines,” for our friends. That way our friends can make their own patterns, hone in on their fine motor skills and have fun too!
Valentines Gifts: Needed For the Penguin Beads:
- Baking Clay and an oven (we used orange, black, white, and turquoise)
- Toothpick for small details
Valentines Giftsf for Kids to Make – Directions:
- Roll one small black ball, then smash it into a flat oval.
- Add a white stomach, 2 tiny white balls for the eyes, and a small orange nose.
- Use a toothpick to poke a bead hole through the middle of the penguin.
- Follow the clay package instructions for baking. Ours baked for 75 minutes.
Materials Needed For the Build Your Own Bracelet Packets
- Beads
- Beading Elastic
- Small plastic bags
- Tape
- Paper
- Printer and Ink
Valentines Gift – Bracelet – Directions
- Put enough beads for one bracelet in a plastic bag (add a few extras just in case)
- Cut elastic band around 1’ long, roll it up and add it to the bag.
- Tape the bag shut.
- Print or write a special message on a paper tag.
- Tape the tag to the top of the bag.
- Give to a friend.
Some messages to write:
I U like a .
You warm my
Sliding by to say “Hi.”
I included a little note with directions on how to make the bracelet that looked like this.
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This penguin bracelet was inspired by our month long penguin learning adventures in Playful Preschool.
Here are some other ideas of Amanda’s to get your kids learning and creating.
And with the Winter Olympics being held in Russia this year, she is a great resource to learn more about the language and culture.
7 Ways to Use Russian Nesting Dolls to Teach
Looking for more DIY Friendship Bracelets ? Here are some great ones for Summer Camp and beyond!
Hope you like them!
What others are reading
Valentine’s : Sewing & Threading
Valentine’s Gifts for Kids: Candy Cane Roses
Valentine’s Gifts for Kids: White Clay Recipe & Memory Jars
Valentine’s Gift: Heart Art Canvas
Valentine’s Gift: Chocolate Spoons
Valentine’s Gifts – Fort Kit
Valentine’s Gifts: Spice Scented Valentine Coupons
Valentine’s Gifts: Booksmarks
Oh my goodness! These are just too cute! Thanks for sharing!
They are the cutest, aren’t they?
Thank you so much for the sweet words Merdith! I hope her classmates will be as excited to receive the DIY bracelet valentines!
What a lovely penguin. I think home made bracelets are fantastic.
I love them too Pinkoddy!!
Awe – I asked my 7 year old if she would make me one too. She said only if there were extra materials!
Awww bless her! So sweet!
Amanda these turned out so cute. I love how you created an interactive gift to give to others. Black and tourquise make sure a fun pop of color too! Now I need to come up with something with my daughter to make for our friends in return 🙂
They are just soooo lovely, aren’t they Kim?
I love this idea – so personalized and fun for everyone to create a bracelet. Going to have to try this with my daughter! Thanks.
We are really loving the bake clay. The kids made the penguins and then sat and created at the kitchen table for another TWO hours making all sorts of little trinkets with the clay. Best $6 I spent all week (the clay was on sale!)
My kids adore working with polymer clay too!
What adorable bracelets!
Perfect! We started the tradition just this year of homemade gifts ONLY, through Christmas. There was no reason to start buying for Valentines Day! We didn’t make anything close to these sweet gifts BUT, we will make these to reward ourselves for the gifts we did make 😀 I just love these! Thank you for the idea