Prayer Beads – Prayer Craft With Kids

Praying beads are a great way to end a lesson on prayer. A perfect Prayer Craft with kids. With their many colors, it’s also a great way to end a lesson on Joseph and the coat of many colors or a rainbow craft for Noah’s Ark.

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Prayer Beads Craft

My husband and I used to teach Sunday School twice a month. We have a class of about twenty rambunctious girls and boys! I love this age. They really connect with everything and are so highly opinionated. The boys think they are hysterical, and the girls love to exercise their maternal instincts on the loud table of boys. Of course, my husband adds his own energy to the mix. Just when I get them settled in, he cracks a joke. And, they start all over again. Oh my goodness, it’s amazing that we have ever gotten through the lesson. I always reward all of us for getting through the lesson with a craft to connect to the lesson. Their crafts hopefully also remind them through the week of the key points. Trust me, fourth-graders STILL LOVE TO CRAFT! They love it all – Stickers, glue, glitter, coloring, and beading.

This week was about Joseph and his naughty brothers. I was trying to connect with the fact that Joseph’s siblings were still forgiven even though they were completely horrible to him. That’s hard. They did some pretty nasty stuff. We talked about praying for all sorts of things. We especially talked about praying for our enemies. Again, that’s hard. What kid wants to pray for his brother who just pummeled him? So, to help us remember Joseph and his forgiveness, we made prayer beads.

Materials Needed for Prayer Beads

• Cording – I used twine, but hemp cording is also a great choice
• Beads – The colors I chose were white or clear, green, blue, white or clear, black, brown, orange, red, purple, and gold or yellow.
• Cross necklace charm

Equipment

Optional: Clipboard for holding the craft as the kids add beads

Clear tape

How to Make Prayer Beads

Cut the cord to the desired length. I wanted mine long enough to fit into my son’s journal, so mine is pretty long.

Wrap a small piece of tape around one end of the cording to make it stiff for beading.

Starting with the cross pendant, thread the cord through the hole on the top of the cross and tie a knot to secure.

Trim, if needed

If you have a clipboard, you can clamp it down onto the cording so it holds the craft in place as you finish beading

Starting with the gold or yellow bead, start adding beads above the cross.

I worked my way in reverse with my colored beads, starting above the cross with gold, purple, red, orange, brown, black, white-or-clear, blue, and green.

Finish the pattern with one more white or clear bead, tying a knot around it to secure it

Here is What the Colors Signify in this Prayer Bead Craft

Based on Psalm 23

White Sheep – The Lord is my Shephard, I shall not want

Green – He makes me lie down in green pastures

Blue – He leads me by the still waters

Crystal or white – He restores my soul. He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Black – Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Brown – Your rod and staff, they comfort me.

Orange – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil,

Red – My cup runneth over.

Purple – Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Yellow or Gold – and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Ways to Use Prayer Beads

Some kids in our class made necklaces, some made bracelets, and some made long strings of beads to put in their Bible as a reminder of what to be grateful for or as reminders of things to pray for.

Here are some of the other ideas for symbolizing that we came up with as a class:

We listed the colors from our bag of beads, in a column on the dry-erase board. Then, we connected emotion to the colors in a separate column. For some of the colors, we connected an action that makes us feel that emotion.

• Black – Sin – Someone has done something wrong to us, or we have wronged someone. Something we need to work on as ask forgiveness for.
• White – Forgiveness
• Yellow – (reminded us of the sun ) – the start of a new day – A day of hope
• Purple/Orange – (reminded us of Sunset) – Bedtime – Praying Time
• Gold – Heaven
• Green – (Reminded the kids of grass and trees growing) – Growing in Faith – One way to do that is to pray
• Pink – (Reminded the kids of flowers, springtime, etc..) – We talked about starting prayers with a thankful heart

The kids loved this craft. They talked about wearing their necklaces or placing their beads near their bedside table as a reminder to pray every day. I overheard them all coming up with new ideas for each color. My kids are still reminding me of what each color stands for. The praying beads were fun, and meaningful to all.

Helpful tips on beading with kids

• Tie a knot around the first and last bead. Otherwise, you’ll be picking up beads for years
• You can also use a little tape to stiffen the end. It makes it a little easier to push the string through the bead
• Also, supply little cups for the kids – they can keep their own supply of beads in the cups.
• A clipboard is a great tool for holding the cording as you bead

More Beading Crafts You’ll Enjoy

Watch My Video on Making Prayer Beads

Printable Instructions

~Melissa – KidFriendlyThingsToDo.com – Recipes, crafts, fun foods, party ideas, and fun things to do with your family