Friendship Bracelets: A Tutorial






Friendship Bracelets

I've been making Friendship Bracelets for years with kids in groups.  It's a great "getting-to-know-you" activity when a group is just starting out.  This activity would be equally fitting for a birthday party, sleep-over, daycare activity or just a rainy day.  Heck, you don't even need a "group" to do it.

What To Do:

1. Gather up some straws. You'll also need scissors and a pipe-cleaner for each participant.


2. Cut straws into equal-sized "beads".  Depending upon the age of the participants, you may need do this beforehand.


3. Give each child a set of "beads" and a pipecleaner. 



Each child should get a set of beads ALL of the SAME COLOR! 

One child gets ALL yellow.



 One child gets ALL green, etc. You'll see why in a minute!



4. Make each color of the "beads" have a corresponding question.  The leader of the group asks a question, or provides a sentence stem, that elicts a response from each participant which helps all members get to know each other. 

Here are some examples:


YELLOW: Tell us your name.

GREEN: What's your favorite book?

BLUE: What's your favorite movie?

ORANGE: What's your favorite sport (whether you play it or not)?

PURPLE: What's your favorite school subject?

RED: Tell about something you can do really well.

As you go around the table and each child answers the question, the child holding the corresponding "bead" color gives a bead to each child.  By the end of the game, each child will have one of each color!

This is an excellent way to help kids get to know each other, yet also have something to do to keep their fingers busy while they practice "listening" to each other as well!

Have you done a similar activity in the past?  How have you done it?  I'd love to hear!

As always from Kidlutions, we wish you Happy Parenting {and Teaching}!






Wendy Young, LMSW, BCD, is  the founder of Kidlutions and co-author of BLOOM: 50 Things to Say, Think and Do with Anxious, Angry and Over-the-Top Kids, co-creator of BLOOM Brainsmarts, and creator of The Joyful Parent. She is the creator of numerous workbooks and resources to help from the preschool through the teen years. 

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Comments

Deborah Stewart said…
I love the bright colors of straws! What a fun way to make new friends!
Thanks, Deborah! It was great to have you "visit"! Stop in any time!

Wendy =)
Unknown said…
This is so good to see this friendship bracelets tutorial here, i will try to create one of mine like this! thanks for this share,
Anonymous said…
This is something out of the box,to make bracelet with straws. This could be a good gift to give your friends on friendship day, they will definitely love this & can never forgot it ever.
Syed and Manali,

Thanks for dropping by! We can never have too many friends!

Wendy =)
Stephaine said…
simple and easy tutorial for making friendship bracelets
Thanks, Stephanie! It was so fun creating this post!
~Wendy
Unknown said…
Great idea! Please share the best method for securing the pipe cleaners. I have found that they can scratch the kids' skin and also can be hard to remove. What have you found works best for you?
Thanks for stopping by! This is true. In this regard, I would suggest using some painter's tape wrapped around the section where the pipe cleaner is secured. Another alternative is to use thin elastic thread that is made for jewelry-making and can just be tied off, allowing the bracelet to be slipped on and off without any risk of scratching!

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