Handbells are a great activity for Christmas time.
Setup:
Ask about three adults to help pass out the bells.
Important Note: If you don’t have enough for the whole primary, make sure that each child knows they will somehow get a turn. It’s just too exciting to not get a turn!)
I show the poster, point to an orange cutout, and ask everyone with an orange bell to play their bell. (This is my instruction time about being careful with the bell, stopping the sound by holding it to their body, and playing by one stroke of the hand like tapping a hammer on the wall. I try to do it in 2 sentences or less.) I then point individually to each color of the bells, giving each child a chance to try out their bells and clue in that they play when that color shows up on the poster. I give ample praise to those children who are holding their bells quiet while the other children have a turn.
It’s time to play the bells.
I give simple instructions, 1. asking that all bells are quiet against the child’s body until it is their turn, and 2. play your color of bell when my finger touches your color of cutout. Let’s go!
I breath in a large way (giving them a non verbal clue that we are about to start the piece), then start the music, pointing to each symbol in the rhythm of the song as I sing the song in my head (so that I get the rhythm right). The child plays the handbell he or she is holding when it is their turn. (*Note: if it is a song with a duet such as Away in a Manger, you will need someone else to hold the poster so that you can point with both hands in rhythm.)
If another group of children need a chance to play the bells, I ask the children to take their bells and give it to a child who has not yet had a chance to play. I go through the same step of playing each color to give the new children a chance to try out their bell and learn to play with their color of symbol.
If you have enough bells for each child, I ask the children to exchange colors with one of their friends so that they have a new color. We then play through the song again. It becomes a new experience because the children are holding a different color and have to play at a different time.
The children love the bells!
Here is a poster for Christmas Bells.
To print it poster size, you can use Adobe Acrobat. Here is a whole article about how to do that.
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