Kids get bored easily, and what better way to perk them up, than by helping them start a band, so to speak. Okay, most parents aren’t interested in setting their children up to bang and toot on objects that produce horrible, ear-piercing sounds, but when you make instruments for your young kids, you’ll love the quiet sounds and smiles they produce.
One instrument they’ll love to play with is a shaker made from an empty bathroom tissue roll. Cover one end with tape, or glue a piece of cardboard to the end, then fill the tube with rice, beans, bells or other noisemakers. Using foods, like rice or beans, fill only about half full, or a little less. Using bells, you’ll only need to drop in a few. Make a cover for the open end and you’ve got a great noisemaker that has a soft yet definite sound. Cover the tube in fake fur, cloth, colorful paper, or just let the kids draw on it with markers.
Another way to get tunes in a hurry is to drop some noisemakers into a soda bottle. A 20 oz bottle is perfect for this craft. Fill with anything from bells, to rice to straight pins. When the bottle contains all the noisemakers, glue the lid on well. If you want the bottle to have a handle, use a dowel that is large enough to fit tightly into the mouth of the bottle. Glue in place. Now the child can hold onto a handle when shaking it. Paint the bottle or use foam pieces to embellish it.
Small tins with lids are perfect for filling with noisemakers and fitting to small hands. After filling with whatever noisemaker you choose, glue a piece of elastic from one side, over the top, and to the other side. This will allow children to slide their hand in between the elastic and the tin lid, making it easy for them to create “music” while dancing or acting silly.
Stretch rubber bands onto rectangular tissue boxes to create a “twang” sound that mimics a guitar. Make the box look more like a guitar by gluing an empty paper towel roll to one end, to look like the neck of the guitar. As kids pluck the rubber bands it will produce notes that sound something like a guitar or banjo.
Make a maraca-type instrument by filling an empty spice jar with rice, bells or other noisemakers. Glue the lid on tightly. Cut a small slit in the center of the lid and glue in a popsicle stick. This will form a handle for the kids to easily shake the maraca.
Set an empty paper towel tube onto a piece of foil. Gather the sides of the foil, and press or tape into place, to create a foil tube, around the paper towel tube. Fill the inner tube, or paper towel roll, with rice. Fill about half full. Carefully remove the paper towel roll and tape the end of the foil tube shut. Lay the tube on a table and carefully slide some of the rice to the opposite end of the foil tube. After separating the rice, some at each end of the tube, gather the middle of the foil together and squeeze into a handle shape. Kids can now hold the foil handle and shake the instrument for music.
Cut 2 pieces of foam, thick paper, or cardboard, and set one aside. The shape you cut the foam can be square, triangular, or even octagonal. It can also be in the shape of a character or another object. Lay one piece of foam on the table. String a piece of thread through a jingle bell – found at any craft store – and glue the thread ends to the foam shape. Add as many or as few as you wish, but the more you glue on, the more jingle the instrument will have. After you’ve glued on all the threaded bells, glue the second foam or cardboard shape to the first. The bells should dangle outside of the “tambourine”, and the thread ends will be hidden between the two foam pieces. Kids can decorate the tambourine then shake it for music. You can even use paper or plastic plates – large or small – to make the tambourines.
Little kids don’t have to sit around bored. They can help make musical instruments, then play with them for hours. Most of the instruments can be made in a couple of minutes, but will provide endless fun.
Reference:
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