1Household Items to Keep For Homemade Musical Instruments

Before you sit down to craft your homemade musical instruments with your kids you should gather and accumulate the bits and pieces that will work best for creating music in your home. Keep items like coffee cans, oatmeal boxes, paper towel tubes, odd buttons and even glass pasta jars. To help keep everything in one place and not create extra clutter in your kitchen or your craft room, give consideration to placing it all inside of a shoebox or a plastic tub that will fit it all.

Remember that the more organized you are, the easier it will be to work on your homemade musical instruments when you are ready to do so. No hunting high and low for glue or string or rubber bands – with it all in one place, you can get started when you and your kids are ready.

Following are some easy-to-make instruments with material requirements and instructions:

2A Drum Set!

Who doesn’t love the sound of drums?! With a drum set you can turn simple music into music with a rhythm and a fun beat to it. Your kids will love having a set of drums to bang on and make lots of noise.! Entertainment for free takes on a new understanding when you include a drum set!

Making A Drum – You Will Need:

• Empty Oatmeal Boxes (with lids)
• Empty Coffee Cans (with lids)
• Two Pencils
• Two Cotton Spools
• Construction Paper
• Glue Stick
• Crayons Or Marker Pens

Cut the construction paper to fit around the oatmeal boxes and coffee cans; have your children decorate the construction paper in the colors and patterns that best appeal to them! Use the glue stick to attach the colorful artwork to the boxes and cans. Use the glue to attach the cotton spools to the pencils in order to fashion the drumsticks for your drum set!

3A Guitar To Rock Out!

No band of homemade musical instruments is complete without a guitar to rock out on! By creating a fun guitar you will be able expand your range of musical sounds!

Making A Guitar – You Will Need:

• Empty Shoe Box
• Rubber Bands (a collection of different sizes and thickness)
• A Ruler (a stick picked out from the backyard would work just as well)

Carefully stretch the rubber bands around the shoebox, without its lid on. Attach the ruler or the picked out stick to the box either with tape or with strong glue – this will be the arm of your guitar!

4Clacking Castanets!

A pair of castanets are the perfect homemade musical instruments for kids in your home! Easy to make, easy to use to create sounds, this type of entertainment for free is entertainment for all!

Making Castanets – You Will Need:

• Lids From Juice Bottles Or Even Pasta Jar Lids
• Plastic Tape
• Rubber Bands
• Ribbon (the plastic kind of ribbon used for decorating gifts that can be curled with a pair of scissors)

Using the tape, affix the rubber bands to the back of each jar lid and create a hinge. Attach strips of curled ribbon to the hinge of your castanets; let your kids pick out the colored ribbons that they like the best to decorate their castanets!

5A Tambourine To Dance With!

Another wonderful idea for children's musical instruments is a tambourine, which can provide hours of noisy entertainment for your kids!

Making Tambourines – You Will Need:

• Aluminum Pie Pans
• Metal Craft Rings
• A Hole Punch
• Fabric Ribbon

Use the hole punch to make holes in the pie pans; clip the metal craft rings into the holes. Make extra holes to thread the ribbon through the pie pans to add a bit of flair to your tambourine! Be careful not to use knives or scissors on the aluminum pie pans as it can create sharp edges that may cut small fingers!

6Plastic Shakers To Get Down With!

Plastic shakers are cheap musical instruments that can provide you with a range of sounds, depending on what you put into your shakers. Experiment a bit with your kids to find the perfect sounds.

Making Plastic Shakers – You Will Need:

• Small Plastic Cups With Lids
• Construction Paper
• Crayons Or Markers
• Glue
• Rice, Beans, Pennies, Buttons, Or Marbles

Have your kids decorate the construction paper with designs and patterns that best appeal to them; glue the decorated paper to the plastic cups. In lieu of construction paper, consider simply gluing fun decoration like ribbon or yarn onto the cups. Experiment with various fillers for your shakers – from half a cup of rice to 10 pennies – the sounds that you make depend entirely on your preferences! Note: If your plastic cups do not have lids consider using cling wrap or even scraps of fabric to cover the plastic cups – secure using a rubber band or a piece of ribbon!

7Fun Activities

For a party or a weekend sleepover, consider providing all of the kids with the materials that they need to craft their very own homemade musical instruments. Give them a little guidance and let their imaginations and creativity run away with them as they decide what instruments will be the most fun to make! Don’t forget to include glitter, beads, and lots of wet wipes for cleaning up afterward.

There are no limits to the number of homemade musical instruments that you and your children can create – simply by making use of items around your home. Homemade musical instruments are a great way to pass a rainy weekend or to easily learn about various methods of recycling – recycling turns one or more formerly useless products into a brand new product with a new purpose! What a great lesson to teach your children while also entertaining them! Enjoy your homemade musical instruments – and remember to let their imaginations soar!