Secret Code Backpack Chains
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Sometimes it's hard to commit a phone number or locker combination to memory. Here are a couple of innovative ways your child can use letters or colors to record hers.
What you'll need
- Beading cord or hemp
- Lanyard hooks or key rings
- Assorted lettered or colored beads
Key: A-1; B-2; C-3; D-4; E-5; F-6; G-7; H-8; I-9; J-0
How to make it
Tie a long piece of beading cord or hemp to a lanyard hook or key ring.
Write the telephone number or locker combination your child needs to remember on a piece of paper. Then have her choose one of the codes below and string on beads as described.
Tie a secure knot at the end of the strand and trim the ends.
Letter Codes: For a phone number, follow the key (see below in Tips) to select the appropriate letter for each numeral, and use ornamental beads as spacers between the area code, exchange, and last 4 digits. The chain on the left shows part of a phone number with the numbers 31-665.
For a locker combination, use the letters to form double-digit numbers, if needed, stringing spacer beads between them.
Color Codes: To represent a locker combination with colored beads, use one hue to represent units of 10, another for units of 1, and a third as a spacer. For a phone number, simply string together the same color beads so they add up to the correct digit, where 4 green beads in a row equals the number 4 and so on.
You can even add letter beads to the end of the string as a reminder of what number is being coded. For example, MC could stand for Mom's cell phone.
