CORNSTARCH BEADS

I read of this on wikiHow and and it had the feature to copy code so the entire article could be easily embedded in a blog - how cool!

I want to try this sometime, but not sure about leaving them outside for week to dry...wonder if they can be baked to speed up the process.

How to Make Cornstarch Beads

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

These beads mimic clay and are easy and fun to work with. They are perfect for preschoolers to make and play with, teaching them patterning, or sequencing, which helps lay the groundwork for reading and science.

Steps

1. Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix a little bit of tempura paint powder into the warm water and add it a little bit at a time to the dry mix, until it forms a sticky dough. The consistency should be similar to clay.
   
2. Roll the dough into small balls (these will be your beads) and poke a hole into each one with a pencil, knitting needle, or toothpick. Make sure to make the hole big enough for yarn or string to pass through.
   
3. Put the clay beads on a covered cookie sheet and allow them to dry outside on a sunny day. Depending on the weather, this can take up to a week. (Note: If you’d rather not go through the work of dividing the dough into multiple bowls for coloring, you can make this recipe with plain water, without the tempura powder, and allow your child to color the beads by hand once they’re dry, using ready-made paint.)
   
4. When the clay is dry, it’s ready for beading. Cut a piece of yarn into the appropriate length for your child’s necklace or bracelet, wrap a piece of masking tape around one end to make stringing easier, knot the other end, and set them to work!
   

Tips

• This recipe is enough to make one color of bead. Double or triple it for each additional color.
  

Things You'll Need

• 1/2 cup flour
  
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
  
• 1/2 cup salt
  
• Tempura paint powder in at least two colors
  
• Warm water
  
• Several mixing bowls
  
• Pencil, knitting needles, or toothpicks
  
• Yarn
  
• Scissors
  
• Masking tape
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Make Beads from Flour and Water
  
• How to Make Pasta Beads
  
• How to Make Polymer Clay Beads
  
• How to Make and Color Clay Beads
  
• How to Make a Snowman out of Beads
  
• How to Make Paper Beads
  

Sources and Citations

• Original source of article, Our Art in the Park Ideas, Home Made Beads. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.
  
  
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Cornstarch Beads. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.