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Perler Beads- Mario and Among Us

My 1st grade son has been really on a Perler bead kick lately. He made all of these designs this week. Here is a beginner’s guide to Perler (or fuse) beads. I thought this might be something my readers would be interested in learning about as a gift idea for a young child in their life.

(The giant Bowser and star my husband helped make.)

My son looked at some examples on the internet for Mario designs and then made them by looking at the pictures.

These are from the Among Us game. (He doesn’t play Among Us yet as he is a bit too young, but his older sister does play the game and he knows the characters from her.) He uses these perler bead creations as toys and plays with them and makes up scenarios with them. He loves to combine the toys with Magnatiles and make buildings for the characters. We bought the Magnatiles for my daughter when she was 4 years old (she is now 11) and these are by far the most played with toy in our house. They get played with almost every day by my son. The 11 year old has outgrown them, but they are a perfect toy for early elementary. I also have a set in my classroom which kids love to play with (when Covid was not a thing.).

To make a design with Perler beads, simply place the beads on to the peg board. When you have made your design, place a piece of the waxy paper (that comes with the kits) on top of your beads. Use an iron to iron on top of the waxy paper until the beads melt enough to fuse together. Then take it off of the board, flip it over, put another piece of wax paper on and then iron the back side. There are more tips and project ideas at the Perler website.

If you want to make your own designs, a square pegboard would work best.

Affiliate links have been used at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog! Leave a comment if you have tried Perler beads before or if your kids also love Magnatiles.

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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

4 Responses to Perler Beads- Mario and Among Us

  1. Jenny Agee Adams says:

    Love it! I always pull out my Perler beads and Christmas shapes for my first grade students in December. They love it and they’re concentrating so hard for at least a half hour.

  2. I’m very fond of perler beads. I normally fuse bead patterns with an iron. I’ve never been brave enough to put my pieces in the oven. How about you?

  3. Pingback: 20 Amazing Classroom Activities Inspired By Among Us - Teaching Expertise

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