100 Days of Art: African Beads (Day 15)

In our Expedition Earth curriculum, we "traveled" to Kenya this week. One of our craft projects was to make our own African beads, since Kenyans do a lot of bead work. I know these aren't really authentic, but the kids had a great time making them!

We used polymer clay for this project. The kids chose two or three colors and tore off small pieces of the clay.

They then flattened them out and layered them, then flattened them out again.

Next they rolled the clay longways like a snake.

They then tore off chunks of that roll and then rolled them in the palm of their hands to make balls.

We then used wooden dowels and the plastic tools that came with the clay to poke holes all the way through the beads.

We baked them at 240 degrees for about 20 minutes. Once they hardened, they strung them on string!

I love the marble effect they have. Mercie made hers to look like earths. The boys used random color combinations but they all turned out beautiful!

Check out our other projects in my 100 Days of Art Challenge!

Day 1: Learning to Draw

Day 2: Pyramids

Day 3: String Art

Day 4: Optical Illusion Art

Day 5: Kandinsky Concentric Circles

Day 6: Rainbow Paint Chip Mosaics

Day 7: Llama Valentine Box

Day 8: Minecraft Valentine Box

Day 9: Model Insects

Day 10: Symmetrical Butterflies

Day 11: Butterfly Feeder

Day 12: Dragonfly Magnets

Day 13: Watercolor Peruvian Llamas

Day 14: Panamanian Molas