Do it yourself rake chain for school enrollment

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In this DIY tutorial we show you how to make a rake chain quite easily yourself. An arithmetic chain is a beautiful and practical gift for the first day of school. Especially for first graders, an arithmetic chain with colorful beads in their favorite colors can be a great help. With the arithmetic chain, the school child learns counting more easily. It can also better illustrate initial addition and subtraction tasks in the number range up to 20, making them easier to solve. In addition, the child learns the transition to tens. Working with the arithmetic chain also trains fine motor skills. By moving the wooden balls, learning mathematics becomes more vivid. The school child has more fun solving math problems.

For a rake chain you need a sturdy thread. We chose a durable nylon thread. Also 20 beads. We used polaris beads with a diameter of 12 mm. This is a nice size to work with. You are of course welcome to use larger or smaller beads. We chose two bold shades so that the bead groups would be easy to see. As a bonus, we also strung letter cubes with the complete alphabet.

So that the rake chain can later be easily attached to backpack or pencil case, we use a key ring to which later still a carabiner is attached.

Cut a piece of nylon thread about 70 - 80 cm long and pull the key ring in the middle of the thread.

Knot the thread.
Now the key ring is securely attached to the thread.

To make it easier to thread the beads onto the thread, we recommend a beading needle. Thread the needle onto the two ends of the ribbon.

The polaris beads can now be threaded onto the ribbon very easily. The threading hole is enough to use the tape twice.

Thread the first group of five in one color like this.

Gradually draw all 20 beads onto the ribbon. Always five beads of the same color are drawn on alternately.

The two ends of the band are closed at the end with a knot. Make sure to leave enough slack. The beads should be able to slide back and forth easily on the ribbon later. You can cut off the excess ribbon with scissors and seal it with a lighter if necessary.

Our arithmetic chain should also get an alphabet as a bonus. For this you need another 70 cm of ribbon.
Tie the ribbon again in the middle of the key ring.

Now thread the letter cubes little by little. With a colorful polaris bead on the right and left of the letter cubes, the ribbon gets a pretty frame. At the end, the ribbon is closed again with a knot.

Finally, you can attach a carabiner to the arithmetic chain, so that the chain can be hooked on backpack or pencil case.

The rake chain is a nice gift for school enrollment. Use the best the favorite colors of the school child!