Use Beans and Pasta For Children's Crafts

When I was a Girl Scout Brownie troop leader, our little troop didn't have much money to spend on supplies for the "making art" segment of the meetings. One of the ideas that I came up with was not only very thrifty, but ended up being one the favorites.

I bought a few bottles of Elmer's white glue, a 1 lb. bag of dried beans, and 3 packages of different shapes and colors of dried pasta. I also purchased a ream of multi-colored construction paper. Each girl brought an oversized old shirt from home (most were one of Dad's old tee shirts) - this solved the problem of messing up their uniforms.

We covered the table with newspaper for easy clean up, put all of the supplies in the middle of the table, and they made beautiful works of art. We expanded this theme by adding in fabric, buttons, ribbon, etc. The possibilities are endless.

By Jacklyn from Victorville, CA