PERLER BEADS MAKE THE PERFECT ACTIVITY FOR BORED KIDS
It feels like cheating a little to make this weeks Homemade Monday project all about Perler Beads/Fusable beads. Mostly because I bought a kit from A.C. Moore and didn’t have to do tons of planning or prep. The kit was very cheap to purchase (I always use my A.C. Moore app for great coupons.) If you aren’t familiar with Perler beads, these colorful beads can be arranged on plastic pegboards to form unique patterns and then fused together with an iron. These little creations can be strung as jewelry, made into key chains, or even assembled into three-dimensional decorations.
I find Perler crafting projects to be a great deal of fun and educational as well. Here are some ways that can benefit little ones:
- Perler beads are great for child develop skills such as hand-eye coordination , colors recognition, basic math and counting, fine-motor and imaginative play.
- The unlimited amount of possible designs and focus needed for individual projects make this a great activity for expanding attention spans. This is a great focusing activity. It promotes children who might have trouble sitting still to focus on a project that has spectacular end results with products they can be proud of!
- These beads come highly recommended by occupational therapist for grasp and finger strengthening.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Perler Activity Kit (Peg boards, beads, patterns & parchment paper)
- Clothing Iron (No steam or water setting)
- Tweezers
HOW TO MAKE PERLER PROJECTS
- Prepare a place with a flat surface to work. (Tip: I laid out a beach towl table cloth. The fabric helped the beads not to slip and fall of the table.)
- Select a pegboard/design. The kit we got glow in the dark space theme that came with a few different shapes and size pegboards along with instructions on how to make particular designs. My oldest made a spaceship and my youngest was excited to make a alien.
- Gather the beads that you will need to make your design. (Tip: we separated our’s into different color silicon muffin tins.) Than following your own pattern or design from instruction pamphlet place selected beads on the pegboard spikes.
- Fusing Instructions ***This next step should be done by an adult only*** Preheat your household iron to a medium setting.
- Carefully place pegboard on flat, heat safe surface. (Tip: Dont rush! Be extremely careful in carrying the bead design to the iron! It’s very easy to bump the beads from the peg board.)
- Cover the beads with the parchment paper. In a circular motion begin to iron the project being sure to stay level for about 15-20 seconds. The beads should still have a tiny open center. Let cool for five minutes.
- Remove paper and beaded design from the pegboard. Flip the design over and repeat ironing instructions for the second side. Let cool for five minutes. Place a heavy flat book on top of your design for five minutes or so to help keep it flat.
OUTSIDE THE BOX IDEAS
The sky is the limits with these beads!!! You can make lots of fun things! A.C. Moore had some great ideas on their page. Check out this idea for the Super Bowl: http://www.acmoore.com/perler-beads-game-on.html
- Coasters
- Picture Frames
- Spinners
- Bead Maze
- Bead Puzzle
