The following post is from Kristina of Toddler Approved:
We are getting really excited for the London 2012 Olympics that start this week. We’ve been talking about the Opening Ceremonies and have learned a bit about the Olympic mascots- Wenlock and Mandeville. Wenlock wears five friendship bracelets that are in the colors of the Olympic rings. His goal is to make as many friends as possible during the Olympic games.
We love Wenlock’s goals and decided to make our own kid-friendly friendship bracelets that we can wear and give away to new friends during the Olympic games. Today, I am sharing two simple bracelet tutorials using the Olympic colors that should be fun to try out at any Olympic celebrations you have!
Although kids of all ages will enjoy making these, they are most appropriate for kids ages seven and up.
1. Floss Wrapped Bracelet
Supplies:
- embroidery floss in Olympic colors (black, red, yellow, green, and blue)
- thin bendable cardboard
- tape
- scissors
Directions:
1. Cut cardboard into thin strips and size them to fit a little bit larger than child’s wrist.
2. Tape floss to inside of bracelet and start wrapping with your first color.
3. Wrap all the way around the cardboard to layer the floss.
4. Cut off one color floss, tape it to the cardboard, and then start wrapping another floss over the edge of the previous one.
5. Continue until you’ve wrapped all of the colors.
Finish the bracelet off by poking holes in each end of the cardboard and wrapping floss through the holes to create a tie. This part is harder, so your kids may need some adult assistance to pull the floss through the small hole.
2. Glue Striped Bracelet
Supplies:
- embroidery floss in Olympic colors (black, red, yellow, green, and blue)
- thin bendable cardboard
- scissors
- liquid glue
Directions:
1. Cut the cardboard into thin strips to fit wrist.
2. Cut floss so that it is about two inches too long on either side of the cardboard.
3. Cover one side cardboard with glue.
4. Glue pieces of floss onto the cardboard one at a time to create stripes. We used three strands of each color.
5. Trim the edges of the cardboard if there is any space not covered with floss.
6. Trim ends to fit wrist and use longer pieces of floss to tie bracelet into place!
- 20+ Olympic Craft Ideas via Red Ted Art
- Easy Olympic Crafts for Kids via No Time for Flashcards
- Bloggers go Olympics 2012 Pinterest Board via Rainy Day Mum
What other types of friendship bracelets have you made before? Do you have any Olympic celebrations planned next week?
 | Kristina is a mom of 2 and a former Special Ed teacher for children with communication disabilities. She blogs at Toddler Approved as she looks for ways to make life a little more fun and creative with her kids while embedding learning into everything that she does. Kristina tweets as @ToddlerApproved and can be found on FB and Pinterest. |