Bead Candy Cane Ornament

This candy cane ornament craft made out of beads is a fantastic fine motor skills activity for your toddler or preschooler, and the result is a fun, homemade Christmas ornament craft. We've always found it much easier for our daughter to string beads onto a pipe cleaner than onto string. String wiggles, slips, the beads all fall off and then the whole experience is very frustrating. With the pipe cleaners your child is much more in control and it makes for a more satisfying experience. We've been doing crafts like this with our daughter since she was two, so give this cute Christmas ornament craft a try with your toddler! (Of course, please make sure your child is well supervised when working with beads so they don't eat them and choke).

What you'll need:

  • Red and white pipe cleaners
  • Red and white pony beads (or any other type of bead with a large hole in the middle)
How to make your Bead Candy Cane Ornament
  1. Twist a small loop at one end of the pipe cleaner. This is to keep the beads from slipping off the end.
  2. Have your child string the beads onto the pipe cleaner, alternating red and white beads. This part also makes a good sorting exercise with younger kids.
  3. When you get to the other end of the pipe cleaner, twist a small loop in that end as well.
  4. Bend the beaded pipe cleaner into a candy cane shape and hang on your Christmas tree!
 candy cane craft

christmas ornament craft

bead ornament craft