J is for Jewelry Making {Kids Craft from A-Z}

I am getting the honour of working with Play Dough & Popsicles for her series, along with other bloggers, on Kids Crafts from A-Z. I picked the letter J. 

For the letter J, we will be doing jewelry. 

Before we go into 'what is jewelry to you?', let's look at the definition of jewelry.

jew·el·ry

ˈjo͞o(ə)lrē/

noun

1. personal ornaments, such as necklaces, rings, or bracelets, that are typically made from or contain jewels and precious metal.
2. 
   

Part of jewelry, is learning about the history of Jewelry. We went to the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery as a girl scout troop and we learned about Jewelry!

So they learned about Jewelry being much simpler than we think today.

Think about what you consider jewelry... is it a ring, earrings, rings, necklaces?

That would actually make sense is jewel is the word jewelry.

And jewels, for me at least, I think the royal jewels.

What if I told you that jewelry can be a red bow? 

You may not believe it, but that was not only once considered jewelry, it was also a sign that you were available! Just like when we wear engagement rings to show that we are taken. 

We also don't think about jewelry being something boys and girls can do... cue stereotypes....

I will challenge this!

Cuff links can be jewelry. Many things men wear can be jewelry. Not just the football superbowl ring either! What about grills (not the kind you cook with but the grills on teeth)? That can be considered jewelry. Belt buckles, spurs on boots, glasses, etc.

Even native American Indians (like we learned at American Art Museum) used their headdresses to show their status and were considered jewelry-- I know, shocking in some ways right? Or jockeys now in high school use they letterman jackets to show status. You pick something and it could be said that it is jewelry.

The jewelry we will be doing today will be much more obvious. 

So as you can see in the video the kids did, they rocked it! Of which we did several takes because of course the little one decided to jump around in one, then my eldest Avi was being silly in another. Via was all serious about it. LOL. As you can tell.

My little one did jewelry using recycled beads from different things. This could be beads from hair pieces, beads from old jewelry, anywhere. That and yarn from my crocheting-- Viola... kept him busy!

My daughter, Via, decided on her own to do paper jewelry. It was interesting because before I told her we were doing this post, she was doing that. I told her we were doing the post and she got excited for doing her paper jewelry. I explained to her that it was perfect because there are people that do paper jewelry all over the world!

My son, Avi, who had previously taken apart his toy and kept the chip from it wanted to make it into a necklace. So I told him that he could use yarn, make the necklace piece of it by braiding it together and adding in the chip after. We will do a post on making it safe to do that, but how cool is that idea?!

So this project cost us nothing-- It was FREE! Those are the best homeschooling lessons ever!
The best part was piecing it together with something they had done months ago at the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. to what they were working on now.

It is amazing how the hands on learning can really make the difference for retention for the kids. So...
Before you throw out something next time, think about what you can do with it! There are many art pieces you can make!