Comments on: Childrens’ Jewellery Parties

By: Cathy Stewart

Cathy Stewart — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:58:57 +0000

I agree the younger the children, you need to keep it simple. Maybe have some kits already to go in different colors. Also, might need that for the older girls too. Kind of helps them get started. Too many choices is not good especially if they have never done this before. Keep a good sense of humor too. Laughter is a good diffuser of problems. Cathy

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:38:31 +0000

I was just planning my daughters’ birthday party when I got this email for the newsletter! I’ve been stringing jewelry for years and have TONS of supplies, and had already decided to have a crafting party.

I was going to do necklaces, but bracelets sound much better. My twin daughters and their 5 guests are 10 years old. I hadn’t thought about using charms, that’s a great idea, as is taking the picture at the end. I’m also thinking about doing small craft groups during the summer.

I’ll post again with details on how the party goes. Thanks for the great links – I learned a lot!!

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:12:02 +0000

When I did birthday parties, I created kits for the different age groups ahead of time. The younger one’s got everything in an organza pouch that they emptied and assembled. These kits were memory wire bracelets.

I pre bent one end, provided enough beads to fill it in the color requested, and when they were done, I was there to bend the other end. The older groups where given a basic project design (such as, a tigertail necklace or bracelet) and then a variety of beads where provided to pick from.

Everyone left with an organza bag for storing their new piece with my business card for the parents. As for materials, glass beads worked best for me, they were reasonably priced but still had nice sparkle.

By: Rain

Rain — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:15:48 +0000

I worked at a store that did birthday parties and the mistake they made was letting the girls decide what they wanted to make. Getting young kids to make a decision is like herding cats.

I found that, often, they wanted to make something that is beyond what they are capable of doing and, because it didn’t turn out just like how they imagined, they got frustrated. No one wants that at a birthday party!

My advice would be to come up with a handful of easy, fun projects that work for various ages (those links Rena provided look great!).

For each party, you can give the parent the option of which project they want for the party. Then, you just provide a variety of colors for the one project that the kids all make. The kids still get to make some choices, but you’re not pulling your hair out dealing with 10 different projects!

By: Rena Klingenberg

Rena Klingenberg — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:29:02 +0000

That's excellent advice, Nancy - thanks so much! Anna, I also want to point you to some new pages we've just moved over here from my old website: Girls' Birthday Bracelet Beading Party Birthday Beading Party Flyer Girls' Jewelry Birthday Party Bracelet Making Jewelry Parties. I hope this helps too! :) Best of luck with your parties - please keep us posted on how they go!

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:45:57 +0000

Thanks Nancy, all information received will be taken on board and very much appreciated.

Anna

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:00:57 +0000

Advice from a retired art teacher….the younger the child the bigger the beads should be. Also age 4 years might be too young unless you are using very large beads.

Depending on your stringing material, I’ve found that most 5 year old children can string 6/0 and 3/0 seed beads. The larger holes in these two sizes make stringing easier for them.