Beads, Wampum, and Scrap Paper

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

Age: Elementary and middle
Time: 10 minutes per bead
Type of Activity: Bead making

Materials needed:

• Craft foam
• Paper scraps
• Scissors
• White glue
• Needle and thread

Wondering what you and your kinderartists can do with that ever-growing box of mystery scraps? Simply gather up all of your teeny tiny bits of craft foam, your colorful paper scraps, a pair of scissors, some white glue, a needle and some thread and get ready to create some funky beads.

Ready, set, go and cut a small circle from the foam or paper about the size of a dime. This will be the center of your bead. Next, make smaller circles for either side of the center circle and repeat the process until you have several layers of foam or paper. Glue all the pieces together in decending order of size. Poke a hole through the new "bead" using a needle. Remember, you can create long beads, short beads, skinny beads, fat beads, triangular beads, square beads, or even star-shaped beads. The sky is the limit.

Wampum are beads made of a type of shell called a quahog. The word quahog is a Native American word meaning hard shell. Hundreds of years ago, European colonists wore wampum belts and necklaces and they used the beads much the same way we use money today. Of course, Native Americans used wampum too, but not for money. For them, wampum was sacred and was used in ceremonies, as gifts and as ornaments.

Now you know.

© Andrea Mulder-Slater | KinderArt | http://www.kinderart.com

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