Pipe cleaner activity

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a pack of pipe cleaners, I was going to do an activity with my son I had seen on Pinterest. 

It was the one where you cut up the pipe cleaners, place them in a bottle, and use a magnet to move them around.

It looked really fun, but I couldn't find a magnet anywhere.

So, this is what I came up with instead.

Supplies

pipe cleaners

empty bottle (I just used an orange juice bottle)

a sharp knife

a push pin

a nail

Using the sharp knife, cut off the bottom part of the bottle. (Be careful!!)

 The easiest method I found for making the holes was to first poke the push pin though, 

 and then poke the nail through the same hole, and move it around a little to make it larger. Poke holes around the whole bottle.

 It probably only took about 10 minutes to make all the holes.

 At first I tried to have my son push the pipe cleaners through to the other side, but that took A LOT of concentration and patience. Something an almost 4 year old doesn't always possess :)

 He got a couple through all by himself, but I could tell it might not hold his attention much longer, 

 so I told him to just poke the pipe cleaners through any holes to make it look 'crazy'

 He loved it! 

 There was a lot of thought as to where he was going to put certain colors

 The finished 'design' :)

 Once he was all done we pulled out all the pipe cleaners, straightened them out a little, and 'stored' them in the bottle.

I love the flexibility of this activity, and that it can look different each time!

Do you have any pipe cleaner activities?