no nuts about it
okay, so this isn’t totally a kid-made craft like my other offerings, but little ones can certainly help with this one, and should! so, unfortunately my little peanut has a severe nut allergy (nuts, nut butters, nut extracts, nut oils.) since she’s almost three and is going to (a super-allergy-conscious) preschool these days, the chances of her being in someone else’s care without mommy and daddy around are becoming greater. so i wanted to share this little idea for a safety bracelet with you all who might have kids who need something similar.
all you need are some alphabet beads to spell whatever you want (no nuts, no shellfish, no dairy, diabetic, vegetarian, OR just do something fun like your kid’s name or a fun word instead!) then find a few other random beads from your collection at home (or cheap ones in the craft store.) i used some stretchy beading cord that i tied together (as seen at the amazon link below,) but you could also use beading wire if you wanted your bracelet to have a clasp.
then enlist the help of your child to string beads onto the cord or wire. using the letter beads can help with alphabet recognition and spelling, too – bonus! while we made ours, we talked more about novi’s nut allergy, to make her more aware of it. (whenever she eats something new, she already asks everyone, including me, “does this have any nuts in it?”) i recommend making your little one fully aware of their allergy so they don’t need to rely on a bracelet, but it’s a good additional precautionary measure.
then you’ve got a little safety bracelet that your child can wear to preschool, playdates, etc. where they might have snacks out of your presence. hopefully this will signal to the adults around to be mindful of what they’re feeding your child, in the event that your child doesn’t speak up right away.
