Music and Your Children: Making the Band

You don't need to be an accomplished singer or own a baby grand to make music part of your child's daily activities. Create a music corner in your home and fill it with your very own homemade instruments!

Shoebox Guitars

Materials:

• Shoebox
• Paper towel
• Scissors
• Markers, crayons, stickers
• Rubber bands
• Unsharpened pencil
• Glue/tape

Have your child decorate the outside of a shoebox and paper towel roll. Next, cut an oval hole into the top of a shoe box and glue together both top and bottom. Stretch rubber bands lengthwise around the box and place a pencil underneath the rubber bands, adjacent to the oval. Now tape the paper towel roll to end of guitar to form a handle.

TP Kazoos

Materials:

• Toilet paper tube
• Hole puncher
• Markers, crayons, stickers
• Rubber bands
• Wax paper
• Scissors

Have your child decorate a toilet paper tube. Then, punch a hole in the tube, about ¾" in from one end. Cut a wax paper circle larger then the end of the tube. Use a rubber band to attach it to the end closest to the punched hole. Secure tightly with a rubber band. Hum into the open end to create different sounds.

Drum Kit

Materials:

• Large cardboard box
• Construction paper
• Balloons
• Markers, crayons, stickers
• Tins of varying sizes (coffee, juice can, beans)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Rubber bands
• Tape or glue
• Cork

Remove the tops and bottoms of all cans. Cut out construction paper pieces for each can. Pieces should be as tall as the can and long enough to wrap around it. Have your child decorate the paper and then tape it to the can. Stretch a balloon over each opening, smoothing out wrinkles and securing tightly with a rubber band. Stab pencils into corks to make drumsticks.

Now make the drum kit by tracing an outline of each drum onto the large cardboard box. Cut out each circle and place the corresponding drum into the hole. Secure with tape if needed. 

Egg-citing Shakers

Materials:

• Plastic Easter eggs
• Small beans, lentils or rice
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue

Fill one half of a plastic Easter egg (available at craft stores) with small beans, lentils or rice. Experiment with differing amounts and different materials to create a variety of sounds. Run a line of hot glue along the inside edge of the other half of the egg. Put the egg together and let it dry.

By Rochelle Strauss