Arts and crafts for the elderly.A question for the jewellery makers.

[LetThereBeRock]

I'm putting together a jar of beads,in various shapes,materials,sizes and colours for the residents of the care home I volunteer in.

I want to buy some cord so that they can thread the beads,as well as sort them,but which size of cord should I buy,bearing in mind that some have problems with their hands?
I don't want to buy cord that's too fine,or cord that's so thick that the majority of the beads, I'm trying to collect larger beads,can't be threaded onto it.

Would 1.5 mm of waxed cord be a suitable size?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

TIA

1.5 is quite large, and you might find that a lot of standard beads have holes too small.
0.5 is a good diameter, easy to thread, and you can get it in lots of colours.
Waxed cotton cord stays quite firm (doesn't go floppy..oo-err missus) when handled.

I have much knowledge of this, ask me another :)

i have problems with severe arthritis in my hands, and am still able to do quite intricate jewellery work. you would be surprised at what some elderly people can actually do with beads. bigger beads, yes definitely, but they might well be fine with tigertail wire x

When i was helping dd to make a necklace, she used a darning needle with a big eye and blunt tip to thread the beads onto the cord. That might help them with threading them.