Treasure Under the Rainbow Shakers

This week at play group we made treasure shakers. Pictured above is our first prototype based upon the Rainbow and Bits of Gold activity by Fantastic Fun and Learning.

We began by prepping the Lima beans with gold spray paint, flipping and spraying a second time after the first side dried.

The next day we set out the tray of dried beans, scissors and various colors of ribbon for our activity.

Singing the song "Red and orange, green and blue, shiny yellow purple too! All the colors that we know live up in the rainbow.", we cut and lined up our ribbons. Then we tied each one individually to the top as you can see in the original photo.

However, as more children came over to the table the activity morphed with their supple minds. They enjoyed cutting the ribbon immensely and decided to add their cut pieces to the inside of the bottle.

And the activity was further transformed when we noticed the children enjoyed placing items in the bottles so much and we realized we hadn't painted nearly enough beans to satisfy their desire.
We then grabbed a container of pony beads and mixed them with our golden beans.

Ribbons were tied or glued on the tops in various ways with the help of parents and the cap secured with hot glue.

In retrospect, the children were dazzled by the golden beans, but golden pony beds or play coins along with an array of pony beads would be sufficient and save time. Additionally, shaking can cause the Lima beans to split in half, exposing their unpainted middles. Overall, the children really enjoyed cutting the ribbons and filling their bottles, providing a great opportunity for both scissor practice and pincer grasps. And as far as shakers and noise makers go, this one has a tolerable sound.