Elementary Craft: Simple Homemade Friendship Wristbands

Have elementary children make their own friendship wristbands, including personalized beads! Use these wristbands as a reminder to pray for one another!

You’ll need:

• medium-sized, round wooden beads
• fine-tipped markers
• plastic pony beads
• lettered beads
• clear tape
• yarn
• child-safe scissors

*Note, if you have more than six kids, form smaller groups for this bead exchanging activity.

A Twist on Friendship Wristbands

Making and exchanging custom friendship beads is a great way for kids to connect with each other and remember to pray for one another. Have children think of how they could distinctively design a wooden bead to show something about them, such as a favorite sport or a love for dogs. Kids can use the markers to decorate one wooden bead with their personal design for each person in the class or smaller group.

Once everyone has finished customizing their wooden beads, have them take turns, one at a time, to distribute their beads. Each person should end up with a collection of wooden beads that tell them something about their friends at church today.

Next, set out all the other beads, yarn, scissors, and clear tape. Invite kids to make a beaded wristband from their wooden beads and any others they’d like to add to a piece of yarn they measure and trim to fit around one of their balled up fists (laying the yarn along their knuckles). If the yarn is too thick to easily go through the beads, show kids how to tightly wrap a small piece of tape around one end of the yarn and use that to poke and thread the yarn through the beads.

As kids work, discuss the following friendship-building questions:

• What did you draw on the wooden beads you made?
• What does that drawing tell us about you?
• How does getting to know each other help us become better friends?
• What could you do with your friendship wristband this week to help you pray for your friends here at church?

Have kids help each other tie off the yarn so wristbands are snug enough to stay on, but also loose enough to be able to slip off without pain or breaking the wristband.

Looking for more craft ideas? Check out these posts!