Egg Shakers Tutorial

My new position at church, music leader for the nursery kids, is a HOOT. We dance with scarves, pretend to be all kinds of animals, hit sticks, tambourines, bells, and castanets, and sometimes just fold our arms and the kids will quietly listen to me as I sing reverent songs. (I know it's hard to believe, but sometimes when a few of them are howling for their mommies, it's best to have all available teachers gather the children into their laps while we sing quietly.)

Last week I gathered all the materials for these new shakers for the kids to play with, and they were a HUGE hit. They have a nice mellow sound, and a heavy hand-feel that kids love. They're palm-sized and fun to hold, but they're also perfectly MOUTH-sized, so watch them! Nothing bad will happen, but you'll have a very annoyed child on your hands when they realize they've finally stuck something in their mouth that they can not remove!

To make these you'll need:

plastic easter eggs
bb's
PVC electrical tape (you could also use plain electrical tape, but it's wider. The PVC tape was labeled as "lead-free" though, so maybe electrical tape contains lead? Both were on the same rack at my hardware store)

They're pretty self-explanatory, no? Fill each egg with bb's- experiment to see what you like. Hold the top and bottom of the egg as you tightly wrap with tape- you want a little tension. The tape is really sticky, but also peels off really easy to watch those little fingers when you bring these out to play! My ten-month-old LOVES these, and has been taking them in and out of the bucket all week. My four-year-old also loves them, and asked me to "Never take these to church NEVER again. Because I like them!"