An Invitation to Create: Wire & Bead Sculpture

Immy has recently enjoyed making small creations with thin wire and small beads and so one afternoon I set up a simple invitation to create consisting of a wire tree and an assortment of brightly coloured beads.

An Invitation to Create: Wire & Bead Sculpture

Invitation to create-Wire and bead sculpture from Childhood 101

I created the tree with 26 gauge wire. I wrapped a long length of wire continuously around my hand and then twisted the middle section of the wire to form the tree’s trunk. I spread the loops at the bottom of the trunk out to represent roots and cut the loops at the other end (with regular scissors) to form the tree’s branches. The tree was simple to make and could be constructed by a child of preschool age (with adult assistance) or older.

I secured the tree to a square mirror I had placed on the tabletop with a small ball of Blutack. The beads I presented in a small, crystal bowl.

Invitation to create-Wire and bead tree sculpture from Childhood 101

Immy was immediately drawn to the invitation and I was pleased to see that the threading required her to slow down and take her time, concentrating closely.

An invitation to create-Wire and bead tree from Childhood 101

It was actually reasonably challenging to thread the beads onto the small branches – providing a great opportunity to develop those all important fine motor skills. As she finished each branch I helped her to fold the end of the wire up and over to secure the beads.

An invitation to create-Wire and bead sculpture tree from Childhood 101

Although this invitation was all about the process of creating and not the finished product, I must say our completed tiny, wire and bead tree is quite endearing and it will look lovely amongst Immy’s little collection of special treasures.

Have you tried creating with thin wire with your children?

Related Posts

12 Comments

  1. I ave seen this EVERYWHERE Christie. It’s so pretty and very inviting for children and their fine motor skills. Love it!

  2. This is truly beautiful. I have some wire and we’ll be sticking to free play at first but I will have to remember this (I have pinned) for future use 🙂

  3. Marianne McKnight says:

    I love the addition of the mirror. The mirror provides double the whammy.

  4. This is beautiful, would have been a nice activity
    It reminds me of crystal trees

  5. Oh WOW! That looks absolutely amazing and something you wouldn’t imagine a child being able to make. Great work!

  6. Elise @ Creative Play Central says:

    Immy created such a gorgeous tree. I really like the way you included the mirror too. Such a wonderful idea!

Comments are closed.