Description

Branch Beads are a natural and inexpensive alternative to plastic beads and mass-produced wooden beads. Among other things, playing with them helps children build hand-eye coordination and small muscle skills, as well as learn about things like orientation, sorting, and sequencing.

This project requires some specialized tools. If you don’t have them, you likely know someone (or know someone who knows someone) who does. That person can churn out a bunch of these branch beads in about an hour if you can convince them to take on the task,

Materials List

You’ll need the following materials:

• An assortment of reasonably straight branches between 1 1/4” and 2” in diameter. Hardwoods are best. Branches should also be dried, not fresh from the tree. Fresh-cut branches should be allowed to dry out for at least a few months so their moisture content decreases.
• Something to string the beads onto; I prefer leather lace, but nylon twine, shoe strings, yarn, pipe cleaners, narrow gauge wire, and plastic lacing also work well.

Tool List

To make the branch beads, you’ll need:

• Bandsaw with 3/8” or 1/2” blade
• Drill press with 1/4” wood bit
• Sandpaper, 120 grit

Construction

There are three steps to making branch beads:

1. Slice Them—Use the bandsaw to slice the branches into 3/4”-1 1/2” long pieces. Other types of saws can do the job, but a bandsaw is the safest and most efficient.
2. Drill Them—Use the drill press to bore a hole in each piece created in step one to produce your branch beads. A hand drill is a workable, but poor alternative if a drill press is not available.
3. Sand Them— Sand as needed to remove rough edges.

Notes

• Supervise branch bead play accordingly. Younger children may want to mouth the beads, which could become a choking situation.
• Hold pieces securely when drilling—they will want to spin with the drill. The smaller the piece’s diameter, the more it will want to spin. It also helps to have a sharp drill bit that’s running at the correct speed.
• If you want to apply a finish to your beads, I recommend mineral oil. It’s safe, inexpensive, and easy to use. Just wipe it onto the beads, let it soak in for 20 minutes, and then wipe off any excess with a clean rag. This is a project kids can assist with.
• Just for fun, make two holes in some of your beads.
• Don’t make your laces too long. Strangulation is a small risk, but the real problem with long laces is that 1) kids have short arms and have a hard time manipulating them, and 2) the longer the lace is, the more likely you will end up untangling it at some point. I usually opt for laces in the 18”-36” range.

Play Ideas

• Challenge kids to lace beads from smallest to biggest.
• You can also use brand beads as table blocks. I’ve found kids like to stack them and line them up in rows—or maybe use them to build cages for plastic dinosaurs.
• Forget what I said about lace length. If you made lots of beads, provide a lace that is long enough to hold them all. How many feet of beads do you have?
• Get wild and combine your branch beads with other beads.

Branch Beads Wrap-Up

Over my ten-plus years as a small-time artisan toy maker, these beads were exceedingly popular. I must have made tens of thousands of them. Their texture and aesthetic are equally appealing to kids and adults; they’re a worthy addition to any early learning setting.

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