Homemade wind chimes are the perfect outdoor craft to make with kids. We are showing you where to buy metal chimes, which beads will look pretty in the sunlight, and how to assemble wind chimes. Making windchimes for your home is a fun craft to do together and then listen to the results in the breeze.

How To Make DIY Wind Chimes

This wind chime craft is great to do together because it has a few more complicated steps that younger children may need some help with and uses a very strong glue that is best under adult supervision.

Related: More DIY wind chimes you can make

Display your homemade wind chimes on your back patio or front porch and every time you hear the chimes in the breeze, it will remind you of your time spent together! These DIY wind chimes also make great homemade gifts.

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Supplies Needed To Make DIY Wind Chimes

• Cholla wood (or a thick stick or branch)*
• Clear fishing line
• Hemp cord
• Beads – see information below about selecting beads
• Wind chime tubes
• E-6000 glue
• Scissors

*I used cholla wood for our wind chime project that I purchased at a local nursery, but a thick branch will work just as well.

How to Choose Beads for wind chimes

We used an assortment of different beads that we already had at home combined with others from a local craft store. The stones and colored glass beads are perfect for reflecting light from the sun and will make your wind chimes shine.

Once you have found the wood or branch you will use, check the weight of your beads and plan accordingly. If your stick is too thin it might snap under the weight hanging from it.

Instructions to make Wind Chimes

Step 1

1. Tie a piece of hemp cord to the top of the wood for hanging, or thread it through the holes if using cholla wood; I found this easiest to do with a needle. I threaded mine through a bead to make a loop about halfway.
2. Secure the hemp cord in place with a drop of E-6000 glue.

Step 2

Tie or loop fishing line to your wood hanging down from the bottom. Secure each at the wood with E-6000 glue.

Make sure that they are close enough that when the wind blows the chime tubes will touch each other. Ours are a little over an inch apart.

Step 3

Now you can start threading beads onto the fishing line. I prefer to lay my pattern out on a counter first so that I can plan how I want it to look.

Step 4

Once you’ve finished threading your beads, tie the end of the fishing, and then tie a metal chime tube to the bottom.

Step 5

Hang your wind chimes outdoors where they will catch the light and a breezy draft.

Do wind chimes scare birds?

If you have bird nests, bird feeders, or a birdbath, don’t hang your wind chimes too close as the sound can scare away the birds. Hang it in a space in your garden or under your patio where you don’t want birds to go. Hanging under the eaves of your patio will help stop them from making a mess on your outdoor furniture.

More Outdoor Crafts For Kids From Kids Activities Blog

• Take a look at these outdoor ornaments! They’re great.
• Looking for another great way to feed backyard birds? The try this DIY humming bird feeder!
• Birds eat more than just a type of seed. You can make a fruit garland for birds. Fruit is an excellent source of food for birds.
• This DIY bird feeder is made from string, a toilet paper roll, bird seed and peanut butter.
• Here are more pine cone bird feeders. Spread the natural peanut butter from the top of the pinecone to bottom and add seed to make a bird feeder.
• Did you know you can make a butterfly feeder too?
• Try out this Paper Pinwheel Craft!
• Try your hand at this DIY bird nesting ball.
• Learn how to make a melted bead suncatcher on the grill (for a colorful window decoration!)…

How did your wind chimes turn out? Let us know in the comments section.