Roll with it

Handmade beads give you twice the fun - once you have created your beads, you get the pleasure of wearing them! Try the following techniques with the children to create necklaces, bracelets and other beautiful pieces of jewellery. Keep an eye on younger children to make sure they don't put the beads in their mouths.

Pasta beads

Pasta tubes are perfect ready-made beads. All you have to do is decorate them in bright colours and thread them on to ribbon.

You will need:

uncoooked pasta tubes, such as penne and macaroni; knitting needle and Plasticine; ready mixed or acrylic paint; brushes; craft varnish (for adult use only) or PVA glue; glitter glue pens

What to do:

Thread the pasta tubes on to a knitting needle and rest the needle between two lumps of Plasticine. Paint the pasta with bright colours and leave to dry. Add a coat of varnish to bring out the colours of the paint. For a high gloss finish, use craft varnish. If you want the children to do their own varnishing, paint on a layer of PVA glue (don't worry, it will dry clear). When the glaze is completely dry, add some small blobs of glitter glue.

Tip: Nimble-fingered older children can use a thin brush to add spots, stripes or zigzags to the pasta tubes.

Paper beads

Beads made from rolled-up strips of paper can look very effective, and you don't need any special materials apart from paper, glue and felt pens.

You will need:

typing paper (white and coloured); PVA glue; Plasticine; scissors; knitting needle; thin felt pens, including gold and silver

What to do:

* For single strip beads: cut out a long thin strip of paper. Decorate one side of the strip with small patterns, such as squiggles or tiny stars.

Rest the knitting needle between two lumps of Plasticine. Spread a thin layer of PVA glue across the back of the patterned strip and roll it tightly around the knitting needle. The rolling process can be fiddly - it's easier with two people, and even older children may need a hand. When the whole strip has been rolled, secure the end with more PVA glue. Leave the glue to dry and then slide the bead off the knitting needle.

* For double strip beads: cut out two long thin triangles of paper in contrasting colours. One triangle should be slightly thinner than the other. Stick the two triangles together with PVA glue so that the wider triangle creates a margin of colour around the thinner triangle. The margin should be no wider than 2mm. Roll the triangles around the knitting needle, starting at the base of the triangle and finishing with the point. Make sure that the thinner triangle is on the outside. The resulting bead will have an attractive variegated appearance.

Tip: Explore different widths and lengths of paper to create different-sized beads. A wider strip of paper will give you a wider bead. A longer strip of paper will give you a fatter bead.

Clay beads

Rolling clay into small balls or sausages is an ancient bead-making technique. Once the clay is dry, you can paint it in whatever way you wish.

You will need:

modelling clay (available from art and craft shops and good toy shops); knitting needle; Plasticine; ready-mixed or acrylic paint: craft varnish or PVA glue

What to do:

Roll small pieces of clay into balls and sausages. Gently spear the beads with a knitting needle to make holes through the centre. Twiddle the beads slightly to make sure the clay has not stuck to the needle. Place the needle between two lumps of Plasticine and leave the beads to dry. When the clay is completely dry, decorate the beads with paint. Once the paint has dried, finish off with a glaze of craft varnish or PVA glue.

Tip: Try making beads using ready-coloured Fimo clay. Gently mix two or more colours to create a marbled effect.

Stringing the beads

Turn your beads into jewellery by stringing them on lengths of ribbon, silk cord, embroidery thread, thick strands of wool or a leather thong. Choose different types of thread to suit different beads. A single large clay bead looks good on a sturdy leather thong, whereas delicate paper beads suit a thin length of embroidery silk.

To make bracelets and anklets, thread small beads on to thin, stretchy elastic that will stay round children's wrists or ankles. Try mixing different beads - small clay ones interspersed with penne tubes, or paper beads with curly macaroni, look effective.