Repurpose empty water bottles and toilet paper tubes into a fun family activity! These musical shakers are fun to make and can introduce rhythm, melody and instrument-playing to young kids. They’re also festive – so perfect for the holidays!

Use them when caroling to Mother Goose Club songs, pass them out for your New Year’s Eve countdown, and keep them in the car for when the kids are rocking out during a road trip.

Materials:

All the materials you need are below. Most everything can be found around the house or at your local store. Get creative, improvise and let us know what works for you!

• 8 oz. plastic water bottles
• Toilet paper rolls
• Bells
• Glitter
• Red and green tape
• Scissors

Step 1 – Fill the Bottles:

Fill your plastic water bottles with bells and glitter. Leave enough breathing room for the bells to jingle!

Looking to experiment with different sounds? Mix it up with other household materials, like rice or paper clips!

Step 2 – Construct the Handles:

Cut the toilet paper roll vertically, then wrap one end around the cap of the bottle. Secure the tube with tape.

Step 3 – Decorate the Handles:

Wrap colorful tape around the tube in the pattern of your choice!

Share With Us!

Did you have fun jamming out with these musical shakers? Share your thoughts and creations with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #mothergooseclub. We love getting crafty and celebrating with Mother Goose Club families around the world!

Happy Holidays!

It’s the holiday season and that means “…there’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow!” Even if there’s no snow where you live, caroling with holiday songs from Mother Goose Club (around the house, in the car, or in your community) can be a great way to get your kids in the holiday spirit.

Singing your favorite holiday songs with the kids is a great way to get them to practice expressing emotions through song. The next time you’re making a mental note of how fun it is to be singing “Jingle Bells” at the top of your lungs together in the car, know that you’re helping your child develop important social emotional skills. While it may be easier for grownups to bring mindfulness to, or articulate the warm, fuzzy nostalgic feelings that come from holiday songs – it’s really no different for kids. The sense of familiarity and memories they associate with holiday music can make them feel safe, secure and loved – so sing, sing, sing!

We’ve got your holiday music needs covered! Our songs are paced appropriately for even your youngest children, which allows them to hear, follow and better understand the words and sing more confidently (kids learn words better when they’re singing them). Our growing collection of nursery rhyme videos can also help build vocabulary by providing rich, visual context and repetition. While we can’t promise your child might not think “A party in a pear tree” was what your true love gave on the first day of Christmas, we can promise building vocabulary will be a fun journey for everyone involved.

Our Kids Holiday Hits playlist on Spotify and our Holiday Songs & Christmas Videos playlist on YouTube are great places to start your caroling adventure. Do you use another music platform? See below for links to all the places you can stream Mother Goose Club holiday songs this year, and for more tips on singing with your child, watch “How To Sing With Your Kids” from our Show Me How series.

Stream Mother Goose Club on Apple Music

Stream Mother Goose Club on Spotify

Stream Mother Goose Club on Amazon Music

Stream Mother Goose Club on Pandora

Stream Mother Goose Club on Google Play Music

Share With Us!

Are you streaming Mother Goose Club holiday songs? Does your child have a favorite song they love to sing along to? Maybe you have a funny lyric mix-up story! Share with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #mothergooseclub. We love celebrating with Mother Goose Club families around the world!

Happy caroling!

Up on the housetop, reindeer pause.
Out jumps good old Santa Claus,
Down through the chimney with lots of toys,
All for the good little girls and boys.

Ho ho ho, there he goes,
Ho ho ho, through the snow.
Up on the housetop,
Click click click,
Down through the chimney
With good Saint Nick.

Look in the stockings filled so high.
He made his list and he checked it twice.
Amy got a dolly that laughs and cries.
Billy got a fire truck with flashing lights.

Ho ho ho, there he goes,
Ho ho ho, through the snow.
Up on the housetop,
Click click click,
Down through the chimney
With good Saint Nick.

Hey! He ate the cookies.
He drank the milk.
Billy thinks he heard those jingle bells.
He got a bike, all blue and red,
And Amy got a teddy bear for her bed.

Ho ho ho, there he goes,
Ho ho ho, through the snow.
Up on the housetop,
Click click click,
Down through the chimney
With good Saint Nick.
Up on the housetop,
Click click click,
Down through the chimney
With good Saint Nick.

View on YouTube!

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh.
O’er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.
Bells on bobtails ring,
Making spirits bright.
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight.

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

View on YouTube!

Crafting helps children learn a lot about themselves, how to take turns and get along with others – all important skills for success in school.

These shakers are pretty to look at and fun to play with.

When your kids use them as instruments, they learn about rhythm and patterns.

For this craft you’ll need:

• An empty and dry water bottle (the short 8 oz. kind works best)
• A toilet paper tube or paper towel tube cut in half
• Scissors
• Electrical tape
• A funnel
• Decorative materials that fit in the bottle.

You can use beans to make noise and glitter to make it sparkle. You can also use little jingle bells, paper clips, rice, beads, or confetti — anything that will fit.

Fill your bottle a third of the way with beans and glitter, or with whatever you’re using.

Cut the tube. Some children can do their own cutting, but an adult should help younger children.

Place the cut tube over the top of the bottle, and tape it in place securely.

Decorate the bottle with tape.

View on YouTube!

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh.
O’er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.
Bells on bobtails ring,
Making spirits bright.
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight.

Oh jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

View on YouTube!