Gifts Kids Can Make with Perler Beads

Earlier this year I shared some Perler bead projects for kids that includes a couple of fun projects for Christmas, but I also wanted to share some melty bead projects kids can make as gifts.

If you’re like us you have tons of Perler beads (but if you need more here’s a good set) and can always use new ways to use them, so these Perler bead gift ideas are great for kids to make to give of for you to use around the house.

I love the classic melted bead bowl project, which you can see in this list of ideas from Kids Activities Blog. You can use all your leftovers from other projects to make super colorful bowls. There are lots of other great ideas in that list, too, so be sure to check it out.

A different take on the Perler bead bowl is this one from Left Brain Craft Brain, which uses a flat base and layers of rings fused together to make the sides of the bowl. This one uses glue to hold the rings together instead of melting.

Melt beads into discs and you can use them in a DIY mini kaleidoscope project, which would be great to give to another kid or as a stocking stuffer. Check out the instructions for this one at Babble Dabble Do.

Perler bead coasters are super easy to make, and if you have peg boards of different shapes you can make these square, circular or even star-shaped. The designs from Crafty Whatnot would be great for older kids to make, but younger kids can do stripes, color blocking or just place beads at random.

Make tiny designs with melty beads, then add them to a basic melt and pour soap base to make fun soap to give as gifts. I Can Teach My Child mostly used holiday themed designs in the soaps, but you can use whatever designs you like to make washing hands more fun.

Perler Bead Projects for Kids

Perler Bead Snowflake Patterns

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Perler Bead Projects for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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