Jewelry Workshop – Kids edition!

That’s right!!
We had our first-ever Jewelry Workshop KIDS EDITION!!
I’ve been thinking about hosting a kids-workshop for a while. There is magic in their energy, and I felt that maybe their creative minds would actually enjoy making something that they could proudly wear and say that was conceived by them.

At the same time I had my doubts. Making playful beads is fun, but it also takes patience. Something that kids are not always too fond of. So, this first workshop was meant to teach me whether this is something that I should be open to in the future or not.

The PROJECT:
– Each little jewelry designer was asked to create two pieces. A bracelet (made of 10 colorful and playful beads), and a small pendant.

The TOOLS:
– As you can see from the picture above, I prepared in advance 4 different canes, based on their favorite colors and designs. One of my students is a HUGE fan of wolfes, so, the main cane was my version of a sweet cartoonish wolf for their beads.
– Each girl also received a good amount of scrap polymer clay. This would be used for them to create the bead that would be then covered by the sliced canes.
– I was initially in charge of slicing the canes using a very sharp razor blade.

Our workshop was purposefully organized for a small group of 3 beautiful and very creative little girls that fell in a wide range of ages, all the way from 4 years-old to almost 11!.

Meet Kira, our youngest jewelry designer!

Syd and Tony:

As the class progressed, every expectation kept being exceeded: Their attention to detail, their thoroughness, their excitement which kept the whole class so fun!  We had a few dance brakes as well 🙂

Each “designer” created all-in-all 10 beads. And just so you know, creating one bead alone takes quite a bit of time and patience!

This is what was amazing though:  After they finished their first few beads, they asked me to take over my tasks. Namely the “slicing” of the canes, (which can be a bit dangerous, especially for a 4-year-old)  and the “piercing” of their finished beads and pendants (also a bit dangerous).

This is what I learned: It is very important to “listen” to kids before saying yes or no to a request. Because when they feel truly listened, they will listen back.

After a loving exchange (and negotiation), we agreed to give it a try. And they did as promised: Under my very, very close supervision, all 3 girls managed not only to cut their slices perfectly, but as evenly as I do. They measured their beads to make sure they were as similar in size as possible, and then they pierced them perfectly following the steps I gave them.

I was SO, so impressed!

And here are the results to prove it:

My verdict?

It was FANTASTIC! And this was definitely only the FIRST jewelry workshop KIDS EDITION 🙂

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Much love to you!

– Veruschka