Picking and threading berries is an enjoyable and easy thing to do with children. The first part of the activity will involve going for a walk and collecting the berries, I went with my two sons, aged three and four and we picked rosehips, rowan and hawthorn berries. I'd recommend rosehips and rowan berries as they're easier to thread than hawthorn berries, which have a hard bit in their middle.

*Please note that rowan berries contain parasorbic acid when raw, which cause indigestion and can cause kidney damage. They taste very sour and bitter raw, so it’s unlikely that a young child will even eat one, but it’s important to be aware of this.

What you will need:

A basket or something to collect the berries in

A thick needle such as a wool needle

Thread, ideally thick thread, if you don't have it though you can double up some thin thread

Scissors

A thimble if you have one

Once you've picked your berries, they will need to be picked off their branches, this was something my youngest son was also very keen to get involved with.

Once the berries have been picked off their branches, you're ready to start threading them. I used a fairly thick (wool) needle, as the some of the berries can be quite hard inside and you could bend a thin needle. It's also good if you have a thimble or something hard to press against. My four year old son was quite capable of doing it however and seemed to very much enjoy the threading, in fact he's asked if we can do some more berry threading another day. 

We've hung our berries above our fireplace, however they can be made into necklaces, bracelets or wall hangings or whatever you fancy! 

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