Preschool Safari Crafts Beads Activities for Little Kids

If you’re looking for awesome preschool safari crafts, then you’re definitely going to want to check out this post. We made an African Necklace from a paper plate and used beads and pipe cleaners to String A Pattern.

collage of paper plate necklace craft images with text: Safari Theme Paper Plate Craft Make & PlayWe’re back this week with more Going on Safari fun! The little guy and I had an absolute blast making crafts with beads over the weekend.

And while we’re on the subject, the Preschool Safari Theme Sensory Habitat from last week is still going strong too. I can’t believe that he’s still playing with it on pretty much a daily basis. Let that be a lesson to all the homeschool mamas out there. Messy play for the win! Lol…

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A huge thanks to Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) for providing us with their Experience Preschool curriculum for free in exchange for sharing our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. It’s been such a huge blessing to us! As always, my opinions on awesome stuff for little kids are 100% my own.

Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best mama judgement when planning activities for your little kids. 

This week, we started to move in a different direction and went from Wild Safari Animals to Life in the Grasslands.

preschooler sitting at table ready to start paper plate necklace craft activity
One of my goals for this year is to give y’all a better idea of what our days actually look like. After baby girl was born, I kinda went into survival mode because I was of course still working full-time.

And for a while, I was only sharing one activity a week. This year, I want to switch things up and share a lot more. Are you ready?

Jewelry is often made and worn in African cultures. The Maasai tribe of Africa is well-known for it’s traditional handmade bead jewelry. Colors of beads can have specific meanings and tell a story about the person wearing them.

The topic of the day was Beads and we focused on lots of creative activities. We made an African Necklace from a paper plate and used beads and pipe cleaners to String A Pattern.

African Necklace

What you’ll need

  • Paper Plate
  • Cotton Swab
  • Bright-Colored Paint
  • Scissors
  • Glue

Here’s how to do it

Explain that the Maasai use different colored beads to represent values and tell stories about a person’s life.

Discuss

  • What do you wear around your neck?

Make

I helped the little guy cut the center of the paper plate by folding it in half and then making a slit for the opening. After that, I let him have at it. He intuitively knew to use the cotton swab and started making designs on his necklace.

preschooler dipping cotton swab into paint palette
He surprisingly worked on his project for quite a while, but he totally loves painting. There really is something to be said about messy play for little kids.

Our Teacher Guide includes skills to observe. For this activity, I was looking for whether or not the little guy controlled the cotton swab while painting and how he talked about his designs and color choices.

preschooler using cotton swab for dot painting to make paper plate necklace craft
This mama definitely appreciates how diverse the activities are. So many quick & easy ideas for ways to teach little kids all about the world that we live in.

String A Pattern

What you’ll need

  • Colorful Beads
  • Pipe Cleaners

Here’s how to do it

We didn’t use the bead design mats that were included in our preschool curriculum kit. Instead I encouraged the little guy to create a rainbow pattern, basically red, orange, yellow, green, and then blue. I wanted to see if he could continue it on his own, which he totally did.

preschooler stringing beads on pipe cleaner
He’s been able to identify colors and sort items for years now, but we haven’t worked quite as much with patterns so I thought this would be a good way to gauge exactly where he’s at.

I started a few different patterns and asked him to continue them. As expected, he did great. One thing I’ve noticed is that he’s quick to learn.

preschooler stringing beads on pipe cleaner
While we were working on our preschool safari crafts, we were also growing our fine motor skills, learning about patterns and sorting, and exploring creative thinking. And you know what? There’s a lot to love about that.

preschooler making beaded jewelry using beads and pipe cleaners
Don’t forget to stop by next week if you’re interested in seeing what we’re up to with our Going On Safari theme. And if you missed this year’s preschool homeschool space post, you can check it out here.

Looking for more insight & inspiration? Here are the top 10 most popular posts from The Keeper of the Memories. You’re definitely not going to want to miss these!

MGT-Blog-Transparent-300x300As a Mother Goose Time blog ambassador, I receive the Mother Goose Time Preschool curriculum in exchange for my honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. As always, my opinions on awesome stuff for little kids are 100% my own. Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best mama judgement when planning activities for your little kids. #mgtblogger

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Icollage of paper plate necklace craft images with text: Safari Crafts Beads Activities for Little Kids