Winter Crafts for Kids: Make a Snowflake Counting Necklace

Looking for ideas for winter crafts for your kids? They will have so much fun making these snowflake counting necklaces that they won’t realize they are working on fine motor skills and learning early math concepts.

I love making crafts with kids, but it’s always a bonus when they can learn as they create.  If you are looking for cute winter crafts for your kids (at home or at preschool), here is one that can also help them with their fine motor skills and math concepts

Below you will find step-by step directions for making these snowflake counting necklaces…. a fun winter fine motor activity

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Prep the Necklaces

To prep the winter craft I cut out little circles from a sheet of pretty silver scrapbook paper.

I cut holes in the circles with a hole punch and attached a string through the hole.  Kids can add a snowflake sticker to the circle before they began adding pony beads onto their necklaces.

How to Make the Winter Necklaces

Now comes the fun part….adding beads.  I used some painter’s tape to hold the necklaces in place while we strung the beads.  Your kids can fill the entire necklace with beads, or you can ask them to string a certain quantity of beads on their necklaces.

How to Teach Math While Making the Snowflake Craft

We added 10 beads on each side of our necklaces.  Here are some math concepts that you can incorporate into the project:

• Counting practice:  Kids will need to count and re-count the beads.
• More than or less than:  They will need to determine if they have more or less then 10 beads on a string.  Ask them how they figured it out.
• Adding on:  They will need to determine how many more they will need to add to create a set of ten beads.
• Simple Subtraction: They will need to determine how many they need to take off when they have more then ten.
• Composing and Decomposing Ten:  Use two colors of beads and ask kids to find different combinations of beads that equal 10 (6 blue beads + 4 white beads)
• Creating patterns:  Kids may create a pattern with their 10 beads.  Can they show you another way to make the pattern?
• Skip counting:  Older kids can practice skip counting by twos or fives.

Complete the Necklaces

When kids are done stringing beads onto their necklaces, you can help them un-tape the necklace and tie the ends together.  They can take them home and proudly show everyone what they made.

Additional Snow Themed Activities for Kids

I hope that you enjoy this simple and easy winter craft for kids.  If you are interested in additional snowflake themed activities, check out the following in my store:

Want to see more examples of beaded necklaces.  Check out this feathered version….perfect for Thanksgiving or spring nesting season.  Also, here is a spectacular spidery version.