In keeping with our music theme for the week, I thought that the boys would have fun jingling some bells along to the song and book, Jingle Bells. This craft is super easy and makes a cute holiday decoration as well. The bells are even pretty sturdy and can withstand some rough toddler hands (I would know from experience).
What you will need:
– A miniature clay pot (I found mine at Michaels in a variety of shapes and sizes)
– A small bell and a string to tie it on (also at Michaels)
– A wooden ball (from Michaels)
– A gold pipe cleaner
– White acrylic paint and paint brush
– Markers for drawing angel face
– White ribbon for angel wings
– Red ribbon for angel’s neck
– Hot glue gun to stick it all together
1. Start by painting your clay pot white. This will be your angel’s body. Set it aside and let it dry completely.
2. String your bell onto your thread and tie a knot at the top.
3. Once the painted clay pot is dry, turn it upside down and thread the bell’s string through the hole on the top of the pot. The bell should be hanging inside the pot so that it jingles when you shake it. Use a dab of glue from your hot glue gun to secure the string to the top of the pot.
4. Glue the wooden ball on top of the bell (this is your angel’s head). Using markers, draw your angel’s eyes and mouth onto the ball.
5. Bend the gold pipe cleaner into the shape of a halo and tie a big white bow around the bottom of the pipe cleaner. Again, using a dab of hot glue, stick your bow and halo to the back of your clay pot (these are your angel’s wings).
6. Finally, tie a nice red bow around your angel’s neck.
This is obviously a very simple angel design – it can be customized with any color paint, glitter, or other design on the body. Also, feel free to add yarn for hair if you don’t want a bald angel!
Other Option:
If you’re not into making a craft, or if you simply don’t have the time, here’s something very fun and easy that you can also do with bells:
String some bells onto a thread and allow the kids to shake, shake, shake as you sing the Jingle Bells song. I just used some of the extra bells and string to tie these together for each child.
Jingle all the way!
