Perler Bead Projects for Kids

Perler beads are a super fun craft item for kids to use. Also known (by me, anyway) as melty beads, these colorful pieces of plastic are assembled into different shapes on a grid, then melted together by ironing on top of them (with protective paper on top, of course!).

They’re a great craft for kids who are big enough not to put the beads in their mouths. They give a lot of great fine motor skill practice, help kids to learn how to follow a pattern (it’s almost like coding) and requires patience if the project is very big or detailed. It’s also a lot of fun to see the magic of the beads turning into a solid piece, and making fun 8-bit images of all sorts.

If you’re new to working with melty beads, check out this list of 17 easy Perler bead projects from Cool Kids Crafts. One of my favorites is the rainbow, which comes from Steamsational.

Instead of filling a peg board with beads, you can use a cookie cutter and layer the inside area with beads, then bake in the oven to make an ornament. Mama in the Now has the tutorial.

These melty bookmarks from What Do We Do All Day are both easy to make and useful for kids, as a teacher gift for the library center or for grandparents.

DIY Candy has a great collection of summer themed Perler bead patterns for all skill levels. The mermaids shown above are from this list.

Kandi Patterns and the Perler website are two great places to look for all sorts of Perler bead projects. Kandi Patterns has fuse bead projects as well as cuff beading, peyote stitch and more, but most of these can be used for Perler beads. They also have a pattern maker currently in development so you can make your own designs. The Perler website has lots of great detailed projects that are good for older kids and adults, including lots of three-dimensional project like the nutcracker shown above.

And if you don’t want to melt your melty beads, you can combine them with another classic kid craft material — rainbow loom bands — and make a fun bracelet. Check out the tutorial from Dabbles and Babbles.

If you really get into melty beads and want to add some technology into the mix, check out my review of the smART Pixelator melty bead device.

Fun Thanksgiving Perler Bead Patterns

Perler Bead Snowflake Patterns

Valentine’s Fun With Perler Beads

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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