Making Music

Bring a little music into your kids' lives, with instruments they can make at home.
by: Christine Dvornik

Making Music

An Imagination Station Activity

Age: Three and up
Time: An hour or more
Type of Activity: Arts and crafts

Guitar

Materials needed:

  • Old shoebox or tissue box
  • Rubber bands
  • Scissors
  • Paper-towel tube
  • Pencil
  • Paints
  • Crayons/Markers

    • What to do
    Have your child decorate an old shoebox or tissue box. Then, cut an oval-shaped hole in the top of the box for her. Stretch a few rubber bands lengthwise around the center of the box. Make sure the rubber bands are stretched over the hole. Decide which end is the bottom of the guitar and put a pencil under the rubber bands, right beneath the hole. Tape or glue the paper towel roll on the opposite side. This will be your handle. Great -- now she has a guitar!

    Maracas

    Materials needed:

  • Two paper or styrofoam cups
  • Rice
  • Masking tape
  • Crayons

    • What to do
    Have your child decorate two paper or styrofoam cups. Then have her put a half-cup of rice in one of the cups. Place the empty cup on top of the cup filled with rice and tape them together. Now she's ready to make some noise!

    Tambourine

    Materials Needed:

  • Two aluminum pie plates
  • Small bells
  • Ribbons
  • Stickers
  • Paint

    • What to do
    Take the two aluminum pie plates and with a knife or hole puncher, put a hole at the top and bottom, and on both sides of the plates. Then give them to your child to decorate with stickers or paint. After she has finished decorating the plates and the paint has dried, put the rims of the pie plates together -- lining up the holes you had punched in. Take four strands of the ribbon and thread a small bell or two onto each one. Then gather the ribbon with the bell and about three or four more strands and tie them through each hole. After you tie ribbon through each of the four holes, her tambourine is ready!

    Drum

    Materials Needed:

  • Dowel Rod
  • Cotton balls
  • Balloons
  • Empty coffee can or other container
  • Tape (masking, painters, or electrical)
  • Colored construction paper
  • Art supplies for decorating
  • Glue

    • What to do
    First, have your child decorate a piece of construction paper however she likes. She can use paints, markers, stickers, or even craft items that can be glued on. Then glue the construction paper around the empty container. To make the top of the drum, cut the bottom of the balloon off and stretch it out. Place it over the top of the container and as far as you can over the edges. Then wrap the tape around the side of the container to keep the balloon in place. That's your drum! To make a drumstick, glue a few cotton balls together and secure them on one end of the dowel with tape.