While trying to come up with a cool activity for Christmas, I came across several blogs which shared ways to personalize a Christmas ball ornament. I loved most of them but had a huge problem with materials. I come from the Philippines so several of the materials these blogs suggested were either unavailable or difficult to find. One of the favorite ideas I remember seeing required a transparent Christmas ball that could be opened.
All hope is not lost, I grabbed whatever idea I could and came up with a new one. My partner and I agreed to design our own Christmas balls, but instead of using real ball ornaments, we used some styro balls. A few days ago, I shared with a color mixing activity wherein we painted the styro ball pink and blue using a ziploc bag.
Check it out here: /mixing-colors-in-ziploc-bags/
The following day, we used this same ball as our ornament and started designing it.
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What you will need:
- Pre-painted Styro Ball
- Glitter Powder and Glue/ Glitter glue
- Paperclips
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For older kids, you simple need to hand them the glitter glue or glue and let them start designing on their own. Make sure not to put too much glue, else it will start dripping and ruin the design.
For younger kids, ask them what they like to put on the ball. The teacher will have to create the design using glue and let the child sprinkle the glitter powder. It sure was a lot of fun doing this with my toddlers, they really gave me a hard time drawing the things they imagined.
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Morning class:
Teacher: “What do you want me to draw?”
Child: “Circle, square”
Child: “Numbers and letters”
Afternoon class:
Teacher: “What do you want me to draw?”
Child: “Spiderman, leopard, dragon”
Child: “Car, zebra, rainbow”
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I was seriously laughing as my afternoon class asked me to draw all these complicated things on a small Christmas ball! (haha) For some kids, I had to ask if they wanted something else because I really couldn’t imagine how to draw their request. It was a lot of fun and the kids smiled as they sprinkled the glitter. I guess they still felt that they’re the ones who made the design. Good job kids!
Make sure to give them just enough glitter, because they’ll use up whatever you give them. Regardless of how much you give them.
Use a paperclip and open it up. Use it to punch a hole on the ball and there you have your ornament.
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Hang the balls on your classroom tree or around the room and enjoy the feel of Christmas in the air! :)
