I used some  Christmas money to grab the girls this little project:
Pipe Cleaners: $.77
Multi-colored/ Multi-sized Wooden Beads: $4.99

We’re in love with it! So much so that I have to keep it on top of my ‘fridge to keep the beads from being scattered all over the house all the time!

What’s really fun about this activity is that they can do it at my feet while I’m nursing sort of freestyle like in this video.  Or I can get down there with them and really use it to teach!  I make solid color necklaces and ask them to do the same in a different color (learning colors).  Or I talk about small, medium, and large beads while threading (learning comparisons).  Or I make a pattern: large, medium, small or blue, red, yellow and get them to do the same (learning sequencing: a math skill!).