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Here's a wonderful way to make an extra connection with your child!
Make these musical instruments from everyday items together, and when you're done, you can use them to sing a song!

Plastic Egg Shakers
Paper Mache Fruit Shakers
Jingle Sticks
African Tambourine

Sand Blocks
Juice Can Shakers
Jingle Bracelets
Quilting Hoop Drum

Plastic Egg Shakers  

MATERIALS:
Plastic Easter eggs
Filling- rice and barley are recommended, but you can also fill different eggs
                  with different things and have children compare sounds
Hot glue gun, and hot glue

INSTRUCTIONS:
Put a couple of tablespoons (you can experiment with sound before sealing) of rice or other filling in bottom half of egg. Run a bead of hot glue along the inside edge of the TOP of the egg. Carefully place top on and check to be sure it’s on straight and tight.

COMMENTS:
The larger size egg is fun, but if you use eggs the size of real eggs, you can store them in egg cartons painted to match the egg colors, and children can sort them when putting them away.

Paper Mache Fruit Shakers 

MATERIALS:
Vegetable spray or cooking oil
Pieces of fruit
Newspaper torn in to small pieces
Large tray to catch mess
Paste made of 3 parts water to 1 part white glue
Acrylic paints and clear finish material (water-based Polyurethane is
                           recommended)
Paint brushes
Disposable gloves (optional, but very nice to have!)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Put a thin coating of vegetable spray or oil on piece of fruit. Dip pieces of newspaper in glue or starch, removing excess by pulling paper between fingers. Completely cover fruit with several layers of newspaper. Allow to dry for a couple of days. Cut fruit in half with a serrated knife, and remove fruit and skin. Discard or compost. Put rice other filler in paper fruit, and use small amount of masking tape to seal halves together. Repeat with several more layers of glue-dipped newspaper, and again allow to dry. You can lightly sand any rough edges before painting. Paint with appropriate fruit colors, and seal with Polyurethane.

COMMENTS:
Find songs that mention the fruits you are using, and fruit can be played every time that fruit is mentioned. example: I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas  and Mango Fandango ( can be found on Rhythm of the Rocks, by MaryLee and Nancy, available in my Online Shop), and of course, Shake, Shake, Shake Your Apples, the free September 2002
Song of the Month on NancyMusic.com

Jingle Sticks 

MATERIALS:
Six metal bottle caps for each stick
Six inch dowels or sticks
Common nails, approx. 1 3/4" long
One nail larger in diameter, to use to punch holes in bottle caps
Polyurethane or other clear finish
Optional: different colored electrical tape, and permanent black marker

INSTRUCTIONS:
Coat dowels with 2 coats of polyurethane, and allow to dry.Using larger nail, hammer holes in the centers of the bottle caps.Using common nails, hammer 3 sets of 2 bottle caps each along one side of the dowel, leaving enough dowel for handle.If desired, decorate handle end of dowel with bands of electrical tape, and draw design on tape with maker

African Tambourine  

MATERIALS:
Jar to set balloon in while forming paper mache
12" balloon
Masking or other tape
Awl or ice pick for punching holes
Hot glue gun
Newspaper torn into 1" strips
White glue and water mixture (1 part glue to 3 parts water)
Acrylic paint
1 3/4" wide cloth or duct tape (vinyl or electrical tape won’t stick well)
Yarn or string
Cowry shells, buttons, or beads
                  ( shell necklace is less expensive than individual shells)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Blow up balloon to about 2/3 full size (this is arbitrary). Set the balloon in jar, and lightly tape it to keep it from rolling around. Dip strips of newspaper in glue and water mixture, and pull off excess by running paper through fingers. Cover top half of balloon with several layers of newspaper, and allow to dry for 2 days. When paper mache is dry, remove balloon from jar, and pop it. Using scissors, cut an even edge around the bottom so you have a bowl shape. Fold cloth or duct tape over the cut edge of the bowl.
Using an awl or an ice pick, punch holes all around the bowl, just below the cloth tape, and a couple of inches apart. Thread yarn or string through the holes, and attach shells or buttons on the outside of the bowl, allowing them to hang loosely making a sound when the tambourine is moved back and forth.

COMMENTS:
To play the tambourine, hold it in both hands, with fingers up, and twist wrists back and forth. Once you have mastered this, you can gently toss it while twisting your wrists.

Noodle sandblocksNoodle "Sand Blocks" 

These "sand blocks" are made from inexpensive "swimming noodles," which are available just about everywhere now for a couple of dollars. They are brightly-colored 6 ft long pieces of foam used for flotation. In my town they are even available at the supermarket and drug store! If you can't find these (because it's not summer where you are, or they just aren't available where you live), you can use the gray foam pipe insulation tubes available at hardware stores. Not as colorful, but fully functional and still inexpensive. To cut the noodles, you can use anything from a saw to a utility knife. The best tool is an electric knife. It makes a clean cut and you can make 30 pairs of blocks in just a few minutes! Be aware that if you use a saw, you will have rough pill-y edges which will shed for a while as the children are playing them. So if you have a choice between a saw and a utility knife, a utility knife makes a cleaner cut. Just be very careful, and you might want to mark a circle around the noodle before cutting, since the knife won't go all the way through. So, once you have selected your cutting tool... Cut the noodles in about 3-4" pieces, then cut each piece in half lengthwise.

COMMENTS: When children rub them together they make a wonderful sand block sound. And when they "clap" them, as children will inevitably do, they will make a very nice (quiet!) muffled clap, unlike wooden sand blocks that are very hard on the ears! Also, they won't cause injury when thrown ( another inevitable occurrence when working with young children!). They are washable, inexpensive, colorful, and musical! What more could you want? I use them with train songs and any song that has wheels, as you can rub them around in circles. When playing train songs, you can make a train and walk around the room while playing. Another great activity, is to play a pattern with your blocks, and have the children copy it. Older children can take turns being the leader. Or sing nursery rhymes and keep a rhythm on the blocks. All of these activities are great for building early literacy skills!

Juice Can Shakers  

These are fun ethnic-looking shakers– very easy to make!

MATERIALS:
Juice cans with paper labels
      (Dole Pineapple is the only one I have found, but you may find others).
Duct tape
Waxed paper
Rice or other similar filling
Hot glue gun
Electrical tape in different colors (available from hardware stores for under $2 )

INSTRUCTIONS:
Drink the juice, remove the paper labels and pull tab, and wash and dry the cans. Put a small amount of rice in each can. You can hold your finger over the top and shake it, to see if it seems like the right amount. Place a strip of duct tape on waxed paper ( the waxed paper us just to act as a backing for the tape while you cut it). Trace a circle using the bottom of the can, and cut out enough duct tape circle to have one for each can. Peel the waxed paper off, and carefully apple the tape over the top of each can. Then make a ring of hot glue around the edge of the duct tape to further seal the top. Lastly, put one piece of electrical tape around the middle of each can. If you use all four colors, red, blue, yellow, and green, and have 12 cans, you will end up with 3 cans of each color. You can then use the songs to learn colors in Spanish (or other languages), such as Tocan Las Maracas (on Rhythm of the Rocks CD), or try using some of the egg-shaking songs.

Jingle Bracelets  

MATERIALS:
Elastic ponytail holders or Chinese jump rope
                (one jump rope will make 7 jingle bracelets)
Elasticized gold thread
Scissors
Jingle bells (available by the handful at craft and fabric stores,
                or on cards at variety stores)

INSTRUCTIONS:
If using Chinese jump rope, cut into seven inch lengths, and form form bracelets by tying ends in a knot.
Using elasticized thread, tie 4 jingle bells on each bracelet, Space them equally around the bracelet.
COMMENTS:
Songs which use hand movements are quite fun when using these bracelets. examples: Tingalayo (can be found on Raffi recording), and A Rum Sum Sum (can be found on Rhythm of the Rocks, by MaryLee and Nancy)

Quilting Hoop Drum 

MATERIALS:
14" quilting hoop (available at craft and fabric stores)
White glue
Heat-shrink nylon fabric (sold at airplane supply stores- you can order from
             Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co.  (item # 09-00500)
             One yard of fabric will be enough for 8 14" drums, and is under $4 a yard).
Clear polyurethane and brush to apply it
Acrylic paint or permanent markers for making design on drum
Wooden dowel
Wooden ball with pre-drilled hole the same size diameter as the dowel

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut a 17" square of dacron. Spread a bead of glue on opposing faces of the two hoops. Place the inner hoop on a flat surface and overlay the fabric square so that the sides overhang evenly. Loosen the nut on the outer hoop so you can spread it enough to fit it over the inner hoop. Tighten the wing nut as you adjust the fabric, working out any wrinkle and puckers. Let glue dry. Heat-shrink the fabric by running an iron at the nylon setting repeatedly over the fabric. (each drum will tighten a little differently and have a slightly different sound).Trim the excess fabric with an exacto knife. Paint a design on the drum, if desired, and finish by sealing all surfaces with a coating of clear polyurethane.

Make the drumstick by cutting a dowel in 8" piece. Glue small wooden ball on the end.