Handbell Rules

Rules are very important to having a fun time playing bells as a primary.  Every time I use the bells with my primary I post the above image on the board and go over the rules with the kids in detail before I ever hand out a bell.  Without rules and the enforcement of those rules, playing bells can quickly descend into noisy chaos and frustration.  You can print your own rules to post here:

PDF of Rules



Here's each of the rules in more detail that I share with the primary kids:

1. Only touch the handle - I explain to the kids that these are my bells, and I expect them to take good care of them because I want them to last a long time.  That means the bells should only be held by the handle.  There's no need to touch the bell or the ball inside.  Playing with the ball will damage the spring over time, shortening the life of the bell.  Also the bells should not be tapped against anything.
2. Do not play when it is not your turn - It can get noisy and out of control really fast if this rule is not followed.  I tell the kids it is their turn to play when I point to their colored circle on the chart.  When it is not their turn (including when the bells are being passed out), the bell needs to be held against the chest. It can't ring in that position.
3. Sing! - Playing with bells is super fun, but that isn't my only goal with them.  Bells are a fun way to review songs and kids will happily sing the same song over and over again if we are playing the bells while doing so.  However, it only works as a review if the kids actually sing.  I give a bell to every other child.  After we play a song once or twice they then pass their bells to someone who doesn't have one, so everyone gets a turn.  It can be hard to focus on playing a bell and singing at the same time, so I do tell the kids if they are playing they can choose to just focus on that and not sing.  But kids who don't have a bell need to be singing and I encourage kids with a bell to sing at the same time if they can.

Enforcement - After we go over the rules I explain that the bells are a fun thing we can do if they follow these rules.  If they don't follow the rules I won't be able to bring them in anymore.  If a child is not following the rules, then that child's bell is taken away immediately without comment.  They do get another chance to play when we trade again, but I don't do warnings since I explained the rules already in detail.  I do let the occasional accidental ringing of a bell out of turn slide but not intentional ringing out of turn or continual accidents.

I find this strict enforcement is necessary to keep things running smoothly.  One time I was off my game and gave warnings instead of removing bells.  The activity quickly devolved into a lot of noise with kids not paying attention or participating.  Eventually I ended the activity early because we could not get back on track.  I did not bring in the bells again for a few months.  The next time I brought them in we talked about their behavior the last time, reiterated the rules and I told them I was giving them one more chance to show me they could be responsible.  They did a great job and be haven't had problems since.

Now that I have gone over my rules for kids I do have some Rules for Grownups.  They are:

1. Relax
2. Have fun!

I was very uptight when I started doing bells with my primary.  I mainly worried about damage to the bells.  This was a holdover from me participating in hand chime choirs.  The hand chimes were very expensive and as such there were strict guidelines about handling them to prevent damage.  At first this is how I treated my bells.  I was constantly worried about them being damaged and wouldn't let junior primary use them at all.  Then one day I realized these are not expensive hand chimes.  They are bells designed for children.  The entire set cost about $200 including the carrying cases.  That's not cheap, but it's also not so expensive that I can't replace them when they eventually wear out. I decided to relax.  I still expected the kids to take good care of the bells, but I stopped worrying so much about damage.  I started letting junior primary use them, and they did great with them.

The other common concern I see is worrying about if the kids will be able to hit all the notes.  No, they won't., at least not at first and junior primary probably never will.  That's okay. Bells are a fun, enriching activity that's great for review regardless of proficiency.