Our family is always listening to music and we are always looking for ways to get creative together. One day my daughters told me they were starting a band. My brain instantly stepped into the role of their manager (or should I say momager). I told them if they were going to start a band, they needed instruments. And so we began to craft!
Here are four easy ideas to make your own musical instruments. These took us just minutes to make and most the items we found around our house (no trip to the craft store needed... yay!).
Cereal Box Guitar
What you need:
- Empty cereal box
- Rubber bands
- A pencil
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Draw a circle onto the empty cereal box and cut it out.
- Stretch 5 or 6 rubber bands over the length of the box so they lay over the cut-out circle.
- Strum the rubber bands and jam out!
Paper Towel Tube Rainmaker
What you need:
- Paper towel tube
- Rice
- Tape
- Washi tape and markers to decorate
Instructions:
- Tape one end of the paper towel tube closed.
- Fill the inside of the tube with a few handfuls of rice.
- Tape the other end shut.
- Decorate with washi tape and markers.
- Tilt back and forth for a soothing sound!
Plastic Egg Maracas
What you need:
- Plastic eggs
- Plastic spoons (two per maraca)
- Beads or something to fill the eggs (you can use beans, rice, popcorn kernels, macaroni... be creative!)
- Tape to secure the egg
- Decorative washi tape
Instructions:
- Fill the egg with your chosen filler (we used beads).
- Put a plastic spoon on each side of the egg so the handles touch at the bottom.
- Secure spoons together with tape.
- Add washi tape to decorate.
- Shake, shake, shake... then shake some more!
Toilet Paper Tube Kazoo
What you need:
- Toilet paper tube (or cut a paper towel tube down)
- Wax paper
- Scissors
- Rubber band
- Markers to decorate
Instructions:
- Cut the wax paper to a size big enough to cover one end of the tube.
- Secure wax paper in place with a rubber band.
- Add some decoration to the tube.
- Place open end up to your mouth and hum a little tune to make noise.
And that's it! Now we've got the instruments and a momager. All we need now is a lead singer and we'll be ready to hit the open road for a tour!
Renae Gonzalez is the publisher of Macaroni Kid Brentwood, Calif.
