Looking for a project to do this weekend with your children or next week when plastic eggs will be on sale? Easter is a great time to stock up on fillable plastic eggs and make home-made egg shakers! This is a great activity that works on fine motor skills, following directions, sequencing, creativity, impulse control (because playing with the “fillers” can be a lot of fun) and improving self esteem.
Here’s what you will need: fillable plastic eggs, something to fill the eggs will like popcorn kernels, rice, beans, etc., colorful electrical tape, stickers. Since I was doing this activity with a large number of people, I purchased plastic eggs and foam stickers from Oriental Trading Company. The foam stickers are specifically designed for decorating eggs and the texture is great for individuals with visual impairments. We also used sparkly foam musical stickers.
Once you have these items, follow these simple steps (During a music therapy session, I will demonstrate the steps first):
1. Fill half of a plastic egg with a filler. We used popcorn kernels or rice. Snap the egg shut. You can use a spoon or fingers to put the filler into the eggs. You can also scoop the filler directly into half of the egg. It’s great to have more than one filler to experience different textures and sounds (when eggs are shaken). Most fillable plastic eggs have small holes in them, so if using rice, cover the holes with tape or stickers to prevent it from falling out when the eggs are shaken.
2. Cut a strip of electrical tape long enough in length to cover the circumference of the egg where the two sides come together.
3. Decorate with stickers. Please follow written warnings on all materials in order to prevent choking hazards with young children or individuals who put things in their mouth. This young student loved wearing an extra sticker as a fashion statement. Here she is saying, “Cheese!”. 
4. Play some favorite songs and shake along!!! 
