how to make musical instruments
Drums -- Save a Quaker Oats cylindrical oatmeal box and lid. Cut a piece of construction paper to fit around the box. Before gluing it to the box, invite your child to decorate one side of the paper with markers and/or stickers. Attach the paper to the box. Tell your child to use his/her fingers like drumsticks to tap out different rhythms with or without musical accompaniment. Don't forget that overturned pots and pans make good drums when you beat on them with wooden spoons -- and pot lids are great substitutes for cymbals when you crash them together! An empty coffee can with a plastic lid makes a great "hurry up" drum as well.
Drumsticks -- Not only can you use them to beat on drums, they make great instruments if you bang them together. Buy an inexpensive piece of dowel at your local hardware store and cut it into two even pieces. Sandpaper the edges smooth. Try tapping them together keeping different tempos from slow to really fast. Bang the drumsticks on fence posts, garbage cans, bricks, cement, and pipes. Listen to the variety of sounds they make. (You can also just buy a real pair of inexpensive wood drumsticks at a musician's supply store.)
Maracas -- You can fill small plastic containers with lids (margarine tubs, film canisters, frozen orange juice containers) with different substances like rice, sand, and dried peas to make instant "maracas." Each filler will produce a different sound -- and varying the amount you put in each one will also change the sound.
Guitar -- Use a shoebox with a lid to make a guitar. Cut a hole in the middle of the shoebox lid. Put the lid back on the shoe box and stretch five rubber bands that are different widths across the shoebox making sure each one is stretched flatly across the hole in the shoebox lid. The different widths of the rubber bands will make different sounds as you pluck them. You can glue a paint stick or a sturdy piece of cardboard in the shape of a guitar neck to the back of the shoe box to make the box resemble a guitar.
Kazoos -- Take an empty paper towel roll and put a piece of waxed paper over one end of the roll securing it with a rubber band. Poke 2 or 3 small holes into the waxed paper. Then, hum into the open end of the "kazoo" to produce a musical sound. It may be hard for little kids to understand the concept of humming into the instrument -- so be sure to demonstrate what you mean.
Rhythm Sticks -- Some cultures, including the Maori, once used stick games to train young boys to handle spears. Now, stick games are used for entertainment. You can make your own inexpensive rhythm sticks and practice with a friend. Rhythm sticks are also a fun and noisy Scout activity! Materials: • 3/4" PVC pipe - cut two twelve-inch lengths per pair of rhythm sticks, one pair per person • Indelible markers (Sharpie brand chisel-point markers work well) • Paper towels • Newspapers to cover work surface Directions: Make sure PVC sticks are clean and dry, and that the ends are not jagged. Decorate rhythm sticks with indelible markers. Use paper towels to blot or wipe any excess ink away. Let dry for a couple of minutes and blot or wipe again. When the ink is dry, you are ready to play! Note: Be really careful when working with Sharpie indelible markers. If the ink does get onto floors or surfaces, you can try a product like Goof Off to remove most of it.
Great FREE kids craft web-site More instruments to make at homeMaracas 2 thicker paper plates some pipe cleaners 4-10 bells depending on size Staple or glue the plates together Make holes along the side and thread pipe cleaners attached to bells The paper plates can be decorated with paint or stickers for a specific theme
Egg shakers 1 plastic egg (smaller sizes fit a child’s hand better) glue small macaronis or other small shaped pasta. Add the macaronis (you don’t want to put rice in there unless you don’t mind the mess if they decide to step on the egg and lose all the content inside on your carpet) and finally glue the two egg halves together. You can add stickers to personalize them a bit. Bells 1 pipe cleaner(green if Xmas theme) a few red (or other color if not Xmas themed) beads 2-5 bells depending on the size Just thread them on in a pretty pattern on the pipe cleaner and twist the ends together to create a circle. You may want to cover the twisted part when the child’s hand will be with some tape to make sure the metal part doesn’t hurt their little soft hands. Xmas bellsdo you know how to make a fun musical instrument?Tell us about it!
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Tambourine -- Place two, very strong paper plates together (facing each other) and staple, glue, or tape them together. Use a hole punch to make holes evenly separated around the plates. Purchase some silver or gold jingle bells at a craft store and tie them to the holes on the plates with string or colorful ribbon. Shake your tambourine to music.Shaker -- When my kids were little I put two paper plates together (facing each other) and stapled them all around the edges. Before placing the final staple, I put a few dried kidney beans inside and then finished stapling the plates closed. I used masking tape to cover the staples so that they wouldn't scratch little hands. Then, I gave the kids crayons and stickers and let them decorate their shakers. They loved marching around the house to music and shaking their instruments to the beat.
