Here’s a DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft that Teaches Perseverance. This is another lesson in my character building education series.
This series provides character building activities and lessons that work on 52 different character traits, one for each week of the year. There are enough activities to provide your kids with a character building lesson for every single day of the year.
This DIY keepsake holder necklace craft feeds into the week focused on perseverance. For all my lesson on perseverance visit here.
Character Building Lessons About Perseverance
This is our week to learn about perseverance. If you didn’t look at the initial lesson on perseverance, please see it here. That lessons lays the groundwork for the whole week. It introduces the topic with a definition, Bible verse and the reason the character trait was chosen.
Now onto our lesson for today:
Subject: Character Building – Perseverance
Objective: Kids will learn how to persevere in a chosen task or area of life.
Perseverance Bible Verse
As a reminder to work on the Bible verse daily with your kids, here it is:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets theprize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV
DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft that Teaches Perseverance
Kids struggle in different ways with perseverance. The goal of this DIY keepsake holder necklace craft that teaches perseverance is to create a little reward system for when you see your child persevering.
The necklace you create can be worn for the whole week as you are helping them learn how to persevere.
Ask this question:
What is one area of your life that you are finding it hard to persevere?
Answers might include: in cleaning my room, learning to tie shoes, learning to play an instrument, trying to eat my vegetables, obeying, honesty, developing an athletic skill, cleaning up after myself, learning my math facts, etc.
The answer provided will be different for each kid and for different age levels. All kids, however, have an area where they are learning, growing and persevering in their own way.
Note: If working in a classroom setting, find a group goal to persevere at together (staying quiet during work time, saying kind words to one another, writing names on papers, etc.).
How the Perseverance Reward System Works
I have defined perseverance to my kids as “trying and trying and trying until you can do something well.” I have explained to them that when they persevere, the task at hand gets easier and easier.
Have you, your child or your class determine one way they want to persevere?
Here’s my example: One of the ways I see my kids struggling to persevere is in their obedience.
It is hard work to learn to obey.
Once a child creates the pattern of persevering in obedience it becomes more natural for them. It is like that with all things. When we stick with something and work hard at it consistently, we improve.
Have kids create their topic and their goal. For the obedience idea a kid might say, “I want to have perseverance in how I obey my parents.”
Here are some other examples:
- I want to persevere in learning all of my letters.
- I want to persevere in learning how to tie my shoe.
- I want to persevere so I can make a lay up consistency.
- I want to persevere in telling the truth.
Ask questions related to your child’s perseverance goal:
- How do you think perseverance relates to __________________?
- Why do you think it is hard to persevere in this area?
- Do you think working hard at something over and over again will help it become more natural?
- What do you think it looks like to persevere in __________________? What steps do you need to take?
Once they have established their goal, we move on to the perseverance reward system – our DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft.
Hands-on learning often brings concepts home for kids, helping the idea to grow deeper in their hearts. Kids also respond well to acknowledgement and rewards for a job well done.
This DIY keepsake holder necklace craft that teaches perseverance provides the tactical learning that helps drive home a concept.
The way the necklace works in teaching perseverance is that they were able to wear their necklaces all day. Any time they demonstrate perseverance with the goal they identified, they receive some sort of token in their keepsake necklace. I gave out pennies. Other ideas might include beads, jelly bellies, or buttons.
Materials Needed to Make DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft that Teaches Perseverance
- shoelace or yarn
- film canister
- ribbon
- small glue dots, white glue or hot glue
- scissors
- wide mouthed beads
Sechunk flat Cotton Shoelace setAKIRO Film Canisters with CapsMorex Ribbon 6-Pack Polyester/Nylon SweetGlue Dots Mini Dots AdhesiveScissors, 8
How to Make DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft that Teaches Perseverance
- Using scissors poke a hole in the center of your film canister lid. Parents should do this if kids are young.
- Cut ribbon to the size of circumference of the film canister and use glue dots, white glue or hot glue to attach. If using hot glue, parents should do this step.
- Fold shoelace or yarn in half.
- Thread wide mouthed beads onto shoelace or yarn, sticking both sides of the shoelace/yarn ends through the bead.
- Adjust beads on the shoelace or yarn so that the necklace is the right size for your child.
- Thread shoelace or yarn ends through the top of your film canister lid.
- Trim off excess shoelace or yarn and tie a knot.
Note: This post was originally written in 2012. It was updated for better pictures, a better lesson plan and more clean instruction in 2020. The picture below shows our DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace craft from 2012.
Here’s a video tutorial that teaches how to make this DIY Keepsake Holder Necklace Craft that Teaches Perseverance if that helps you visual learners:
Now you have a little DIY keepsake holder necklace for you kids. Use this as a reward system to collect prizes for when they demonstrate perseverance.
Kids will love to keep this necklace and go on treasure hunts outside or around the house to discover what else they might be able to collect in their necklace.
