DIY Large Bead Decoder Bracelets (Shipwrecked Imagination Station Alternative: Day 3)
During the Imagination Station rotation, students participate in an object lesson using a small toy, or what Group calls a “gizmo”. These gizmos can be taken home by the kids each day to reinforce the lesson. In this Imagination Station Alternative series, I’ll track down similar gizmos that can be used in place of Group’s gizmos. I’ll also design/find craft ideas that could be used instead of the gizmos. Which Imagination Station activity you choose (gizmo or craft) should be dependent on the interests of your VBS kids and how you prefer to spend your time/money.
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This year’s VBS theme is Shipwrecked {learn more about the theme here}. The VBS kits are available now. All of our VBS resources are designed to be used alongside any of the Group starter kits, although I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the ultimate version with digital.
If the Group gizmos work for your kids and you’d like to purchase them without any modification, check out my post about how to purchase the Group gizmos at a discount! Day 3’s gizmo is the Decoder Band. Here are my ideas for gizmo alternatives for day 3 of Shipwrecked VBS! Check back for more posts on gizmo alternatives for the rest of the week, as well as craft options for the full week!
Daily Bible Point: When you struggle, Jesus rescues.
Today’s Group Gizmo: Decoder band (bracelet that spells something with morse code – round beads, long/skinny beads, clear beads as spacers) $.79 per kid
Group Gizmo’s purpose: It would be a struggle to understand morse code without a key. Jesus is our real-life key. When you struggle, Jesus rescues.
I actually really like the decoder bands, and they’ll be inexpensive to replicate! My day 3 gizmos are DIY decoder bracelets. I’ve come up with two options based on the age & skill/interest level of your kiddos. With either of the options below, you can use the same idea as the Decoder Band, but with the supplies below. Kids can pick a word or short phrase to spell on their bracelet in morse code. The different bead styles correspond to the dots and dashes in morse code (with clear beads as spacers between the morse code letters). At the end of the bracelet ideas, there’s a morse code key!
DIY LARGE BEAD DECODER BRACELETS/KEY CHAINS
The large bead decoder bracelets/key chains would work for younger or older elementary kids. (For more intricate bracelets, check out Part 1 of this post – the DIY Small Bead Decoder Bracelets.)
Supplies:
Key rings – $8.88 for 200
Elastic cord – $8.73 for 72 meters
-or- Nylon cord – $6.60 for 100 yards
Either use crimping beads & pliers to stop the beads at the end of the string or tie a knot around a clear bead at each end.
Crimp beads – $7.49 for 800
Crimping pliers – $4.76 per pair
Colored straws (cut into small pieces for morse code dashes) – 450 straws for $7.39 (Thanks for the idea Norma!)
Blue pony beads (for morse code dashes) – 2,000 beads for $11.23
Red tri-beads (for morse code dots) – 1,000 beads for $5.68
Clear pony beads (for spacers) – 900 beads for $5.12
Morse code key (download and print from template below)
Instructions:
You’ll need a morse code decoder key! Use long beads for the morse code dashes and round beads for the morse code dots, then add a clear bead after each letter is complete. You can spell your name or a short phrase.
COST COMPARISON
Group’s Decoder Band: $.79 per kit, which includes 20 “dot” beads, 20 “dash” beads, 8 clear spacers, and a 13 in. string. Supplies for 100 students would cost $79.
The large bead decoder bracelets above would cost under $.35 per child. This price allows for ordering 1 package of nylon cord, 1 order of blue pony beads, 2 packages of tri-beads and 1 package of clear pony beads for spacers. The total cost of these supplies is $34.31 and you’d likely have supplies leftover, too!
Morse Code Decoder Key
I created this key to use with the bracelets/key chains. You can print the key for kids to use as they decide what to spell on their bracelets/key chains. You may want to make enough copies so that kids can take a decoder key home to explain the bracelet/key chain to their parents.
What gizmo alternatives have you found for Shipwrecked VBS?
I am a long-time Vacation Bible School lover. I’ve lead in several capacities throughout the VBS world and am currently our church’s VBS director. It is a joy for me to be able to share VBS ideas and resources with others! I will continue to share VBS ideas here as we prepare for Shipwrecked VBS. Follow the blog to see more of our ideas and planning! Please let me know if there are any specific VBS items or ideas you need help with!
What do you use the keyrings for? Do you have a picture of the finished product? Thanks!
The keyring is in case you’d rather make keychains than bracelets. If you’re making bracelets, you don’t need keyrings! I’ll have to hunt down my pictures… I took the supplies over to church. 🙂
I did a bracelet activity for Valentine’s day and found online that tying a floss threader (our older daughter’s use them to floss w/braces and they can be found alongside where toothpaste/floss are sold) to the cording helped a lot with smaller hands threading the beads on. We’re doing the decoder bracelets for VBS and I’m going to get some floss threaders also.
Thanks for the tip Patty!
Would you approximate the amounts you listed under cost comparison to be enough for about 100 students?
Patty – I think you could easily make a couple hundred with the supplies listed!