+Pomander Ball: A fun fine motor experience

A craft using fine motor skills, creativity, and your child’s senses is making a Christmas Pomander Ball!  There are several ways to make them and we will go through some examples!

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Pomander Balls were originally used to ward away illness with the strong scents of cloves and other spices.  Today, we make pomander balls with citrus fruits and cloves as a decoration, gift, centerpiece, or for scenting the room.

What you need:

Citrus fruit: clementine or oranges work best (make sure they are on the harder side)

Whole cloves (you can get a large bag that will last for years at the food store)
Ribbon for decoration

To make holes you can use a fork, pushpin, or toothpick (optional): my kids like to use a small fork to poke several holes at once

  1. Pour some whole cloves into a small bowl for the kids to chose fromimg_2440-1
  2. Next, have your child use a fork to poke holes
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  4. Take the whole cloves and poke them through the holes
  5. Make a design as you chose, and hang with ribbon
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  7. Dry out in a dark place, preferably in a brown bag for a week or two until dry then hang them or decorate with them!  If you chose not to dry them, then they usually last a week before they brown and get moldy. You can also place them in the fridge at night if you want them to last a little longer.
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  9. If you fill the whole fruit with cloves completely, it will dehydrate the fruit and you wont need to place it in a bag at all (my kids don’t usually have the patience for this yet)

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My kids wanted to law shapes on their clementines with the cloves!

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Enjoy and let me know how they turn out!!!

 

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