Category: Perler

Crafting with kids can sometimes be stressful and very messy! Here’s some things I have learned…

1. If your trying something new let the kids play around with it for a little bit

• If they break it you will know to reinforce it better. (I learned that I needed to add fabric to my lining with the oven mitts after one of the kids put a huge hole in the lining)
• If they make a huge mess you will know that you need to change your tactic for the next time (We will never do finger painting with the paper on the wall without covering the entire wall) I remember making stress balloons and filling them full of beans, rice and flour and the flour one completely exploded in the car on the way to pick up a prize and waking in to the building completely covered in flour. I learned that I needed to buy better balloons and never use them in the car.
• If they aren’t interested in it after a short time, you can change it up and try to make it more entertaining. For the girls, adding glitter usually gets them to like it for longer and for my son making it robot or Minecraft themed really gets him interested.

2. Designate an area for crafting. This will contain the mess to a small area rather then the entire house. Avoid having it in carpeted rooms as if glue or paint spills it’s a lot harder to clean it up.

3. Let them make slime! I know we all hate it and it’s so messy, but the kids love it. We have special rules with slime, such as it cannot get off the table, if they don’t follow the rules they have to put the slime away.

• We got a slime kit for Christmas and I was horrified! This was the ultimate slime kit and I was not prepared for this much slime, but hearing the kids laughter as they made slime with eyes floating in it or their amazement as we turned the lights off and one of their creations flowed in the dark. We still have some slimes left to make, but I have just as much fun making it with the kids.

4. Try to incorporate all the kids in the craft activities, however be understanding if they don’t all want to participate or if they only do it for a short time.

• Offering each child a chance to help with a project, like making a ton of perler bead pizzas. It gives them a feeling of accomplishment that they made something really cool.

5. Don’t forget to have fun too! It’s ok to join in too! My kids love it when dad and I participate in the activity and make things just for them. They were very excited the day I melted old crayons into LEGO guys!

6. Enjoy the “nailed it” moments! Take time to laugh at the failures.

We received a bucket of 8,500 perler beads and the kids were very excited to make “melts beads” but on top of another bucket of 10,000 beads from a bucket from IKEA that’s ALOT of beads! The kids didn’t really have interest in them until we got this bucket (I think it’s also cause they are older and can actually make designs and follow patterns now) The two buckets weren’t mixed together yet, but having to find a very specific color for each of the kids (because why would they want the same color at the same time) I wanted to find a way to make it a little easier so I decided to start sorting the beads! I have the bucket that had the most color variety done and I still have to finish sorting the other bucket, but it’s already making things easier!

Some tips I used when sorting beads

1. If you have many different shades of the same color mixed it with other colors, I found it best to sort the similar colors together. I then sort them into their specific shade however it’s up to your preference on if you want to go that far.

2. Be patience especially if you have kids, they will want to play with the beads as soon as you get them out. You will probably want to set some aside for them to play with and then sort them later

3. Use baggies/containers that work best for you. I found that using the snack sized baggies tend to have more issues with spilling and they had a really big opening so I found some smaller baggies that stand up right a little easier.

I also tried using the plastic bead organizers but after a few times of it being opened the wrong direction, I wanted to find a different solution. It might also make things easier to have multiple baggies (or whatever you decide) of the same color, that way each kid can use their own without having to fight over who gets to use that color

4. I found sorting the beads in a muffin tin worked really well, I added cupcake liners inside to make it easier to get all the beads out. I recommend only filling them about 3/4 of the way full as you need to pinch the sides of the liner together to get it out and if it’s too full the beads will spill out.

5. Let the kids be involved, they will probably get tired of it after a few minutes, but letting them be involved can help keep them entertained while sorting the rest of the beads.