Get to Know You Necklace Freebie

I'm so excited to be partnering up with Michaels for their #Create2Educate Instagram Sweepstakes! First, I'm going to share one of the projects I do to start each year using some of the great products at Michaels, then at the end of this post, you can learn more about how you can have the chance to win a $50 gift card to stock up your classroom craft cabinet!

This is a great craft project for the first few days of school and it's a fun twist on the traditional "all about me" activities. I loaded up on beads and supplies from Michaels to get a head start on this year's necklace:

Basically, the kids follow the glyph, or code, to assemble a necklace that will tell things such as their age, how many pets they have, their likes and dislikes, etc. 

Click HERE to get the two printables below for the project:

I usually have the kids work on paper plates and arrange their pattern. This keeps most of the beads off the floor. I also have the kids wrap one end of the string around their non-dominant hand to keep the beads from sliding right off as they put them on. Trust me - that comes from years of experience...

When the beads are all on, I help them tie the cords. As soon as the whole class is finished, we roam the room wearing our new necklaces and use the "Find Somebody Who..." sheet to learn more our our new classmates! The kids always love this project and they end up wearing the necklaces long after that first day. If necklaces aren't your thing, try keychains or bracelets.

Michaels knows that fun projects like these are not usually funded by our schools and it's usually the teacher who spends their own money to bring creative project like this one to the classroom, so Michaels is kicking off the 2013/2014 school year with the #Create2Educate sweepstakes!

The guidelines are pretty simple:

Create your own Back-to-School project—anything from classroom décor and organization, to a learning activity for your students. Then, enter the Michaels sweepstakes by uploading a photo of your creation to Instagram using #Create2Educate.

Each day we’ll feature our favorite Instagram photos on the Michael’s #Create2Educate Pinterest board, and we’ll randomly pick one lucky teacher daily to win a $50 Michael’s Gift Card.  

Create as many Back-to-School projects as you’d like and upload photos of them to Instagram for more chances to win.

#Create2Educate opens for entries on July 21st and closes on August 3rd. Head to Michael’s and get inspired today.

Don’t’ forget that teachers get 15% off of their purchase all year long at Michaels!

When I went shopping, I loaded up my cart and I've actually made quite a few more projects. Here's a sneak peek. I'll be posting more detailed pictures, directions and free downloads during the week!

What are you waiting for? Go on, get your craft on!