Pool Noodle Craft: Using Gigantic Beads to Make a Flower

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My three year old daughter loves threading things. We recently made beaded keychains for all of her friends, and she had a blast threading on all the beads. One of the simplest ways to make something fun even more fun is to make it bigger. Since my daughter likes beads, I made her giant beads out of pool noodles. I turned these beaded flowers from One Little Project into a mega bead pool noodle craft.

I bought several pool noodles and we have slowly been using them for all sorts of pool noodle crafts. Making mega beads is the perfect way to use up all the scraps in a useful way. These huge pool noodle beads could also be used as a simple threading activity with just a plain piece of a rope. Even a kid that is too young to be around small beads can play with them.

How to Make a Flower Shaped Pool Noodle Craft With Your Preschooler

Materials:

• Pool noodles
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners
• Bracelet cord
• Landscape staple (optional)

Prep:

Before getting started, you need to make your pool noodle beads and prep your pipe cleaners. First, cut up your pool noodle. I found that 13 one inch thick pieces of pool noodle per petal worked the best. So I cut 65 pieces (13 pieces x 5 petals) of 1 inch pool noodle. I initially tried cutting them with a box cutter, but found that a normal pair of scissors was easier. I used a blue and a pink pool noodle for some variety.

Then, I got my pipe cleaners ready. One pipe cleaner wasn’t long enough to hold all 13 pieces of pool noodle, so I attached two together. I found that the strongest way to do this was to wrap the two ends together. Then, fold them back up towards themselves. I used a random assortment of colors, since you can’t see them.

Making the Petals:

Now that you have all your supplies ready, it’s time to show your child how to make the petals. Hold one end of a pipe cleaner and have your child string their giant beads on the other end. Help them count to 13 for each petal and let them pick which pieces they want to use. My daughter loved this part and even got her elephant blanket lovey named Lumpy helping.

Once all 13 “beads” are on the pipe cleaner, bring the ends together while holding the pieces tightly together. Twist the ends together to hold it in a flower petal shape. Since they are made with pipe cleaners it is easy to reshape the petals a bit at any point. Then, repeat these two steps until you have made all of your petals.

Making the Flower:

Now it is time to put your petals together. You can simply glue it all together at this point. Or, like me, you can continue threading together your pool noodle craft.

First, you need to cut 5 two inch thick pieces of pool noodle for the center. Then, cut all but an inch or two of the extra pipe cleaner off of each flower petal. Poke this extra pipe cleaner into a center piece.

Once there is an extra piece of pool noodle on the inside of each petal, it is time to thread them all together and to a stem. Make your stem by cutting a longer piece of pool noodle to your preferred flower stem height. Now, poke a hole through both sides of the top of your stem. Then, thread a piece of bracelet cord through the holes and tie it off.

Next, thread over and under two petals until they are firmly attached to the stem. Then, add the other petals by threading each one to the one next to it. Once you make it back to the start, go backwards so you go under where you went over before and vice versa. But, don’t worry about it being tight yet. Once you have it all threaded, go through and tighten it until it can hold itself up. This might take a few times of going around and tugging out all the slack in your cord. After it is tight, tie the end around the top of the stem to finish your pool noodle craft.

Now you have to find a place to put your fun and colorful mega bead flower. I put a landscape staple in the ground and placed our pool noodle craft on top of it.

Conclusion of Making a Flower Shaped Pool Noodle Craft

My daughter really enjoyed her mega beads. They are something I will definitely be making more of to thread onto some rope. They make a great motor skill activity that is fun and colorful. We both like how the flower turned out. It is very bright and cheerful. It makes a fun addition to my garden along with our Shrinky Dink pinwheel. Will you try making gigantic beads for your child? Will you make them into a flower or something else?