Children's Bead Buying Guide

When buying beads for your children, you might wonder how many beads, what type and what type of thread to use. As a general guide, here are some points to take into consideration:
Firstly, and most importantly - No beads are suitable for children under 3 years old and adult supervision is recommended for children older than this.

 All our beads are safe for children over this age and our wooden beads are made using lead free paint.

Size :
The younger the child, the larger the bead. Young children will need a bead with a large threading hole. Our plastic pony beads are best. They have the largest holes and the shaped pony beads are chunky beads for little hands to hold. As their hand and eye coordination develops they will be able to use smaller beads with smaller holes. Patience is required too.
We have chunky wooden beads for young children. These are best thread onto tipped laces as the plastic lace tip is easy to control whilst pushing through the bead. Our shaped wooden beads and similar beads are for older children - the holes are small. These require a fine cord and clear elastic is the best.

 Quantity:
A packet of 100 beads will make one necklace and one bracelet. This is based on standard pony beads. If larger beads are mixed with these they will go further. Some children like to mix smaller beads (known as spacers) between larger beads for a different result and to create patterns.


Threading material:
Threading laces are easy for young children to guide through the bead. They can be used over and over again if the knot is not over tightened. We also have stretchy elastic which is cotton covered. This is suitable for children of all ages to use. It will not fit thorough some of the holes in the smaller beads so if in doubt, you will be best buying the clear elastic cord which is available in a narrower width.
Please take care with any long cords or laces, when using with children, as they can be a strangling hazard.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 21, 2011

    Very useful information for parents and carers here. Beads are great for hand/eye co-ordination and for that great feeling of having made something beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

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