It has been a little while since I last tested out a musical instrument DIY kit, and since I used one as a craft activity for one of my children’s birthday parties, I thought I would share with you what happened when we made our own wooden hand bells from online craft shop, Baker Ross.
Baker Ross are an online craft shop. They do not have a physical presence so you do need an internet connection to be able to shop with them. I generally order direct from them (click here for the Baker Ross website), but you can get their kits from other online retailers like Amazon. Personally I have always found that the price you pay is cheaper when you order direct from their own website. I love a Baker Ross craft kit. They are great little activities to do with the children that fill that odd half hour, or hour during the holidays when you have nothing else planned. I have bought all sorts of kits from them for the children, from seasonally inspired sticker scene kits, like a nativity sticker scene or a Halloween haunted house scene, to wooden birdhouses or big hotels to paint and put together. And just before the long summer holidays especially I usually put in an order for a few kits that I can whip out at a moment’s notice when I just can’t think of anything else to do with the children.
There are now quite a few Baker Ross musical instrument DIY kits that you can get for your children. Like all Baker Ross kits they always come in multi-packs rather than singles. If you order from their website pay attention to the quantity you are ordering as there are some packs with large quantities of craft kits, intended, I think, for schools to purchase. You can see some of the other kits that we did last year here.
DIY Wood Block- Decorate Your Own Kit from Baker Ross
Baker Ross DIY Star Wooden Clappers Kit
So our Wooden Hand Bells kits come in a pack of 4, which was perfect for the little birthday party we had for our daughter. My little girl loves art and crafts, and these were a great addition to her party for a slightly calmer activity when they had worn themselves out from dancing and playing keepy-uppy with a balloon.
What do you get in the kit? Basically everything you need to make the hand bells, but nothing to decorate them with – you will need to provide the decorating materials yourself. I will come on to what we used for decoration later on in this post. You get:
- Wooden stem for the hand bells, with pre-drilled holes in
- Pipe cleaners
- Plenty of small gold, individual bells
Just a quick note of caution here before I tell you what we did to decorate the clappers, if you are doing these with small children in the house, please be aware that they are not suitable for under 3s because they do have small parts which could be a choking hazard – particularly the bells that are really quite small and easily swallowable. It’s not a big thing, but the card packaging attached to a plastic envelope that the clappers are in is secured with staples that could prick small fingers if they aren’t careful with them. and finally there is a packet of silica gel in the plastic package that your children must not put in their mouth. Basically don’t do this activity with a child under 3, and I would also add here that if you have an under 3 year old in the house, they shouldn’t be playing with the hand bells once they are made as the bells are only secured to the instrument with a pipe cleaner. Older children supervise them as is appropriate for your child.
So, what can you use to decorate the stem of the hand bells with? We have done a few of these kits in the past and used all sorts of materials to decorate them – paint, washi tape, chalk markers, paint pens and felt tips. Washi tape comes off easily and quickly becomes quite irritating, it takes a good 2 or 3 coats to properly paint these instruments as the wood they use is incredibly porous. I have found, surprisingly, that the best thing to use to decorate these wooden instruments is just felt pens. They work really well. So ready for our party I set out the different parts of the kit with a load of felt pens. The table mat may have been overkill with using felt pens rather than paints, but I then had no worries about anyone drawing on our table.
So on the day of the party, the girls all had a fantastic time playing the party games we had set up, and when they were all tired, but still excited, and while I was preparing food for them, they all sat down at the table and started to decorate the stems of their hand bells. They all thoroughly enjoyed the activity with each girl coming up with a unique design. It kept them busy and happy and chatting away to each other and to me. My daughter has just turned 7, so threading the pipe cleaners through the pre-drilled holes was not a problem for any of the girls. They did need a little help threading the pipe cleaner through the bell and folding the pipe cleaner over to secure the bell. At the end of this, not only had they spent a happy 20 minutes or so, but they also had a musical instrument to take home with them in their party bag.
These wooden hand bells are a functional musical instrument, but what do they sound like and how do you play them,? Well, you shake them back and forth letting the bells ring out. They work exactly the same way any other set of jingle bells do – this would be a great Christmas Themed activity as well as a party activity. They are not particularly loud, and so the children can play with them to their heart’s content.
I bought these clappers direct from Baker Ross and paid £5.95 for a pack of 4, and at the time of writing they are the same price. You can visit the Baker Ross website by clicking on the link below:
If you have enjoyed reading my blog post, thank you. I am always looking for ideas for the blog, so would love to hear from you with suggestions for topics you would like me to cover in the future. Also, if you would be interested in supporting me to keep this blog running, buying the books to review here, and supplies to make the DIY instruments, for example, I would be absolutely delighted if you would consider buying me a coffee using the following link: Buy Me A Coffee Thank you!!
getkidsintomusic.com 