Beads That Iron Together

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Have you heard about Perler beads?

I'd never seen them until Kenz brought home her creations from Montessori. I thought it was kind of odd that she would be spending her time lining up little pieces of plastic on a board and then having the teacher iron them together. When I tried making one, I discovered how fun and worthwhile an activity it could be.

The little tiny flexible 'beads' are placed in rows on a small pegboard; eye-hand coordination gets a great workout. Making patterns teaches sequencing. I'm sure there are other lessons tucked in there. ("Patience sweetheart, Nana is looking for blues and greens---then I'll pass you the bucket." )

Initially, Kenzie's placement of the beads was random, but she has graduated to patterns. She was super proud of the Fourth of July star she designed and made all by herself.

My daughter bought the big bucket of Perler Beads at our local Michaels Craft Store.

Today, I found the http://www.perlerbeads.com/ site and wow... they have a ton of stuff. I think three-year olds could manage if they had some help.

We are thinking about decorating the Christmas tree in Perler Beads ornaments. They would make neat ornaments and coasters. (Coasters? does anybody still use coasters?)

Perler Beading (I guess that's what it might be called) is a quiet relaxing activity. It keeps you wanting to try new designs therefore--- it doesn't get boring.

The only possible problem would be if the bucket tipped over and 6000 of those things got scattered!

These are the directions from Perlers Page.
Working on a flat surface, create your design by placing beads one by one on a Perler pegboard. Follow our patterns or be creative.
Adult: Preheat a dry household iron to the medium setting. When carrying the bead design to the iron, be careful not to tip or bump the beads from the pegboard!Cover the beads with the ironing paper. Keeping the iron level, gently iron the beads in a circular motion for about 10 seconds to fuse the beads evenly.
Once the design is cool, peel off the ironing paper. Lift your design from the reusable pegboard and flip the design over onto your ironing surface.
Cover it with the ironing paper and iron the other side to fuse it evenly.WARNING: The ironing must be done by an adult only. Some irons may emit steam. Please keep children at a safe distance.