Bead and Pipe Cleaner Ornaments
If you’re looking for an easy Christmas ornament for the kids to make, these bead and pipe cleaner Christmas trees are as simple as they come. It’s a great Christmas craft for preschoolers and helps to strengthen fine motor skills.
I had a couple of older hooligans here on Friday who LOVE crafting so we spent the better part of the morning at the dining room table making super-cute and super-easy Christmas crafts.
Did you see the craft stick Santas that I shared yesterday? You have to check them out. They were adorable!
We’ve also been making lots of Christmas tree crafts. Today, I’m sharing our simple “Christmas Tree” bead and pipe cleaner ornaments.
Toddlers and preschoolers can make this ornaments with very little assistance. I love a craft like this for helping a young child gain independence and confidence at the craft table. We all know how good a kid feels when they can say “I made it myself!”
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Threading beads on to pipe cleaners helps to strengthen fine-motor skills too, and of course there’s the fun of exploring a tray full of beads, and sorting them by shape, size and colour.
For such a simple project, it’s packed with lots of fun and learning.
To Make these Bead and Pipe Cleaner Trees, You’ll Need:
Supplies:
- pipe cleaners (we used metallic ones, but any kind will do)
- an assortment of craft beads
- thin cord for hanging
Making your beaded Christmas trees:
To start the hooligans threaded a bead on to a pipe cleaner. I had them bend the end of the pipe cleaner around that first bead so it would act as a “stopper”.
Next, the kids simply threaded all kinds of beads on to their pipe cleaner, stopping about an inch or so from the top.
That bit of space allows you to move the beads around a bit when you’re shaping your ornament.
(Look at those painty hands!)
The very last beads to be added were tiny, plastic stars – perfect for topping out christmas trees with!
With that last bead secured in place, we simply bent our pipe cleaners in zig-zag fashion until they resembled little Christmas trees. Adjust your beads as necessary until you’re happy with the look of your tree.
To finish, I looped a length of thin cording around just under the top bead, and tied a loop for hanging.
So easy, so pretty, and another homemade decoration to add to our ever-growing collection!
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
