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The Empowered Educator

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DIY Christmas Bells

by The Empowered Educator 9 Comments

These plastic bottle Christmas bells are a great Christmas activity for early learning educators and I love that they use an upcycled plastic bottle rather than having to buy new supplies.  This is a bit of a messy activity but the fun is in the process! 

As a family day care educator and parent of twin toddlers Iโ€™m no stranger to mess! Some the kids make on their own, some I help them to make as I truly believe in the importance of messy, sensory play and activities and I donโ€™t want to stand in the way of this important opportunity to encourage and promote play based learning just because I might be worried about how the floor or tables look after a messy play activity.

Messy activities are wonderful for fostering a childโ€™s growth across many of the developmental areas including, physical, social, emotional, intellectual, language/communication and sensory. 

diy christmas bells

Some of the benefits of offering messy play and activities to children include:ย 

  • Strengthening of fine motor skillsย 
  • Helping to develop imagination and creativity
  • Sensory awareness โ€“ touch, taste, smell
  • Expressing self through use of different materials and touch
  • Opportunities to investigate, explore, experiment and build
  • Introduction of basic science concepts โ€“exploration, experimenting, cause and effect
  • Children can observe and marvel at the outcomes of their efforts
  • Help to develop concentration and problem solving skills
  • Provide opportunities to concentrate, speak and listen as well as observe
  • Provide an outlet for feelings and thoughts
  • Provides opportunities to explore and work with friends

Fantastic isnโ€™t it??ย 

Although I love offering messy play activities it is still important that I am able to clean our craft area quickly as we also use this table for our lunch, morning and afternoon tea and I can often have babies crawling on the floor too.

And when you have 5 children who all want your attention and you are on your own; cleaning must be quick, simple and something the children can help with at times!

I often get told that I must love mess due to the play experiences I offer children in my care as well as my own twinsโ€ฆIโ€™ll let you in on a secret, I really donโ€™t, I am a bit of a neat freak perfectionist which as you can imagine doesnโ€™t really work well for a parent and educator!

However, as long as I have a cleaning system and a few strategies that work for me during the day Iโ€™m not likely to get stressed about a messy floor during play.

I use a carpet/floor sweeper during the day so I donโ€™t need to pull out the heavy vacumn all the time and have stray cords around young children. But often areas of the floor and play mats will also need mopping especially if I have babies and toddlers in care that day. I usually try to use a near dry mop with a little spray of water and detergent to get me through until I can safely haul out the large mop and bucket.

How to make plastic bottle Christmas bells

So letโ€™s see it in actionโ€ฆwe recently began making Christmas decorations which means glue, mess and glitterโ€ฆ.but fun too I promise! I think our recycled bottle bells look so special hanging up that I just had to share with you.

Recycled Bottle Christmas Bells

Hereโ€™s what you needโ€ฆ

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  • A collection of washed and dried plastic soft drink, water or juice bottles. I used some small and some large, just use whatever you have in the recycle tub!
  • Some coloured foil, glitter, tinsel or any Christmassy type collage materials you wish to use. Shiny is good though as this helps the bells catch the light beautifully outside.
  • Some paste (I just use my cornflour paste recipe) and kids PVA glue mixed together
  • Brushes for painting the glue onto the bottles

Hereโ€™s what you doโ€ฆ

ย 

If you are doing this activity with under 5โ€™s it is a good idea to prepare the bells in advance. Simply cut off the bottom and then cut 2cm or so strips about 2 thirds of the way up the bottle towards the neck of the bottle as you can see in the pictures below.

Get yourself a cuppa, settle in a comfy spot and using your fingers roll each strip up to form curls. I promise it doesnโ€™t take long! If you are doing this activity with older children they can enjoy doing this part of the activity with you.

When you have your bells ready it is time to decorate and make them really sparkle!

Lay out a tray with some sparkly goodies, paste and brushes and then let them decorate their bell however they want to! This activity kept my 3 yr olds busy for quite some time and Miss Teen had just as much fun creating something special too.

This is a fantastic activity for all ages to practise those fine motor skills!

We set ours aside to dry for an afternoon and then raided our Christmas decoration box to find a few more sparkly pieces to add to the bells

Using some string, cord or ribbon, tie on your sparkly pieces and then thread through the bottle leaving enough string at the top to hang with. I used a sparkly ornament ball at the top of the Christmas string to act as a stopper in the mouth of the bottle. Be creative, I wanted ours to make some music in the wind so we added some little bells. They are actually doing quite a good job of keeping some of the larger birds away from our garden too which is an added bonus!

I usually do activities involving glitter and foil outside but due to the stormy weather we gave this one a go inside. Don't they look great! If you have mad your own DIY Christmas decorations why not share them with us in our Empowered Educator Facebook Group.ย 

ย 

Are you on Pinterest? I have a dedicated early learning Christmas board HERE. Why not pin this post to save for later?

upcycled christmas bottles

A Little About Me

Jodie Clarke is an early childhood professional supporting educators who want and need to stay passionate about the work they do! She has 30 years hands-on experience in the early childhood and human services sectors across many different roles.


Jodie is mum to 3 in Australia and has already helped thousands of educators with their work through her popular blog posts, activity ideas, online training and e-books.

Filed Under: Christmas, fine motor fun, messy play, reviews

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Sensory Christmas Tree Craft »

Comments

  1. Penny says

    13/12/2013 at 7:28 pm

    Wow, it’ picked up chunky glitter, that’s pretty impressive! I want one now!

    Reply
  2. Caz says

    14/12/2013 at 1:05 am

    Thanks for reviewing this! I use a steam mop on our floors but have been wondering about getting one of these to use during the day between mops. Our kids make so much mess while they are playing, this looks like a quick and easy way to keep on top of it. Great craft idea too!

    Reply
  3. Christie - Childhood 101 says

    17/12/2013 at 2:08 am

    Looks fabulous, Jodie ๐Ÿ™‚ My tip would be to keep a rechargeable stick vacuum or handheld vacuum as close to the dining table as possible so it is quick and easy to keep the floor clean between meals!

    Reply
  4. Jay @ Learning to play and playing to learn says

    17/12/2013 at 2:09 am

    Oh that is awesome, we are the messiest. That is so awesome. We still have glitter all over the floor from last nights late night crafting. Off to the shop to get one of these. Great post!!

    Reply
  5. Deborah Alter-Rasche says

    17/12/2013 at 2:40 am

    The thing I like about this is that you’d be able to pull it out very quickly. I steam mop for regular cleaning but for quick messes and disinfecting I’m often using paper towel and sprays etc. as it’s too much effort to get the steam mop out. Love the bells, they turned out great!

    Reply
  6. Kate Lloyd says

    17/12/2013 at 3:25 am

    This makes cleaning look so simple and a bit fun! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  7. Kate Grono says

    17/12/2013 at 10:26 am

    Love the bells Jode! And you have convinced me on the dettol mop too ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  8. Jackie says

    17/12/2013 at 11:15 am

    Ha ha! When you find your cleaner.

    I think I need one of these. Ike has a lovely habit of throwing his food over the side of the high chair at the moment.

    Reply
  9. Danya atDanyaBanya says

    17/12/2013 at 11:17 am

    I have to admit that we get a weekly cleaner. I just can’t cope otherwise. But this would be great for in between messes – which seem to happen every single day…

    Reply

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Jodie
Hi, I'm Jode, Mum to twins and a teen, and an early childhood educator.
I love to share ideas & resources for play based learning
Find out more about me here...

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