Christmas Necklaces - Fine Motor Activity for Kids

Making Christmas Necklaces is a fun craft and fine motor activity for the whole family. Wear them this holiday season and help spread the Christmas spirit. This play idea is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, but still fun for older children too.

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More Christmas Themed Fine Motor Activities

Fine motor activities are great way for younger and older children to strengthen fine motor skills. Here are some more play ideas that are the perfect addition to your toddler and preschool classroom Christmas curriculum.

For more ideas, visit 30 Christmas Fine Motor Activities for Kids.

Materials Needed

Rigatoni Pasta
Red, green and gold paint
vinegar
Ziplock Bags (1 for each color)
String
Scissors
Kids needle or pipe cleaners

How to Make Christmas Necklaces

Make the Christmas Pasta

If you don’t want to make your own colored pasta there are other things you can use for this threading activity. Some of my favorite ideas include:

Jingle Bells
Green, white and red beads
Christmas themed paper straws cut into sections.
Use Christmas cookie cutters to make small salt dough ornaments that thread and make salt dough necklaces instead.

Step 1. To color your pasta. Mix a squirt of acrylic paint and 1/2 tsp of vinegar in a ziplock bag.

Adding vinegar to the paint is optional. I like to do it because it makes the paint a little more fluid and therefore easier to spread all over the pasta.

2. Add roughly 2 handfuls of rigatoni (or other cylindrical pasta) to the ziplock bag.

3. Close and shake the plastic bag until all of the pasta has been covered in the paint.

If the pasta is not completely covered, you can always add more paint into your bag and shake it again.

4. Pour the now painted pasta onto a large plate and leave it to dry.

Drying time will depend on what the weather is like. I like to make colored pasta the day before so that it has all night to dry out.

5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 for each of the different colors that you want to make.

If you want to cut down on plastic waste, then wash and reuse the same ziplock bag between each color that you use. You can also wash and store this ziplock bag for other projects in the future.

Threading the Necklaces

Once the pasta is dry, you are ready to do your activity.

Step 1. Cut a piece of string or yarn into long sections.

Make sure each piece of string is long enough so that when the two ends are tied together, the necklace will be able to slide over your child’s head.

2. Tie one end of the string to a childrens sewing needle.

If you don’t have any of these on hand, you can always do what I do and use sections of pipe cleaners instead. All you need to do is cut a piece of pipe cleaner (make sure that it is longer than the length of the pasta that you are using) and bend one end of it into a very small circle. Then thread your string through the circle and tie a knot in the string.

3. Tie a single pasta onto the other end of the string. This is to ensure that all of the pasta won’t fall off the other end if the kids pull their string too hard.

4. Thread your pasta onto the string.

5. When you’re finished threading, tie the two ends of string together to make a loop.

This is a great way to practice making patterns with your class. Encourage them to make ab patterns using the different colors of pasta while they’re threading.

6. Enjoy your DIY Christmas necklace.

Are you going to make this Christmas Necklaces with your kids?
Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.