Making musical instruments is exciting for children of all ages, from five to 14. It allows them to develop craft and design skills, as well as giving them an opportunity to get to know the instruments used in different cultures. Much of the fun will also come from playing the instruments - so be warned, watch out for your ear drums and warn the neighbours!
Make your own instrument
Rain stick
A rainstick is traditionally made from a hollowed out tree branch or a bamboo cane, which was then filled with dried seeds or small stones. In ancient times, people believed that if they played the rainstick, it would help to bring rain for dry crops.
You will need:
Thick card
Thick hollow cardboard tubes or bamboo canes (recycle tubes from inside cling film, foil or kitchen paper, or ask carpet shops for left over inner tubes from lino or carpet. Any size will do, you can make a long instrument or a small one!)
Masking tape
Seeds, beans and small stones
Pencils
Paints or felt pens (acrylic paints are great for older children, and they dry quickly)
Paint brushes
(Optional) PVA glue and string, buttons and seeds
To make:
1 Cut two discs of card. Make them large enough to cover the ends of your tube. Place a disc on one end of your tube and seal this down at the sides with masking tape.
2 Place a small handful of the beans, seeds or stones inside the tube. What you put in will determine the kind of 'rain' sound you get when you play your instrument.
3 Place the second disc over the open end and seal this down with masking tape.
4 Now decorate your rain stick. Make the pattern as elaborate as you like, but remember, simple geometric patterns can be just as effective.
5 When totally dry, your rain stick is ready to play. Very slowly tilt your rain stick and listen to the 'rain' trickle down inside or, if you want to create a real storm, shake your rain stick violently from side to side.
6 Your rain stick can also be decorated by sticking various objects to its surface, such as string, buttons, seeds and so on.
Guitar
The acoustic guitar has strong links with Spain and flamenco dancing. Acoustic and electric guitars are also used widely in pop and folk music all over the world.
You will need:
Washing powder box or cereal box
Felt pens
Scissors
Long cardboard tube (for the neck of the guitar)
Small cardboard tube, such as half a kitchen roll
Brown paper tape or masking tape
PVA glue
Paints
Paint brushes
Large rubber bands
Strong card
Silver foil
Thick cord
To make:
1 Draw a large square on the front of the washing powder/cereal box and cut it out.
2 Draw a rectangle, 8cm long, at one end of the long cardboard tube. Cut this out and stick the cut end on to the reverse of the washing powder box using masking tape. This is the neck of the guitar.
3 Cut the small tube in half lengthways and stick this below the square hole, opposite to the neck end of your guitar.
4 When the glue has dried, paint the guitar and leave it to dry before adding strings.
5 Stretch six rubber bands around the body of the guitar, making sure they fit over the small tube, as this will make them louder.
6 Cut three strong pieces of card, about 15cm by 2cm, and cover these with silver foil. Glue these across the top of the neck of the guitar to look like pegs for the strings.
7 Attach a long piece of cord to the guitar to make a strap.
Chiming nails
Chimes go as far back as the Stone Age. A group of bells were hung together from a frame and struck with a stick. Different notes were sounded to mark the seasons of the year.
You will need:
Cardboard tube or garden cane, approx 30cm long (use inner tubes from kitchen foil or cling film)
Coloured paper or paints
Paint brushes
Scissors
PVA glue
Strong piece of cord, about 1 metre
Five or six large nails or bolts, plus one long bolt
To make:
1 Decorate your tube or cane with paints, or stick some coloured paper around it.
2 Place a piece of cord through the tube or cane. The cord must be strong enough to take the weight of the bolts.
3 Tie the cord around the head of each nail or bolt, leaving a space between each of them.
4 Tie the two ends of cord together at one end, making sure the knot is secure.
5 Loop the cord twice more around each bolt head and pass back through the tube. Then tie the ends together.
6 Hold the cardboard tube with one hand and strike the nails/chimes with the long bolt.
Other instruments
Coconut A coconut cut in half - to sound like a horse clopping along.
Comb instrument A comb with tissue paper wrapped round it - just put your mouth over the teeth side and hum away.
Gritty sand scraper Half cover two small blocks of wood with sandpaper and decorate the other side with paints or felt tips, then rub together for a gritty sound.
African drums Ask at your local carpet shop for a cardboard inner roll. These are very thick, so you may need to use a hacksaw to cut it into cylinders to form drums. When cut, cover one end of the drum with a piece of plastic, such as an old plastic bathing cap. Secure this with a large rubber band or two. Decorate your drum base and beat away.
Sound it out
The children will not need much encouragement to play their musical instruments -in fact you may have trouble stopping them! Encourage them to listen to the different sounds that can be made when they use their chimes, scrapers, rain sticks, drums and guitars, and ask them what the sounds make them think of.
Help the children to form an orchestra, African tribe or Spanish dance group. An African tribal dance, for example, gives opportunities for face painting, designing a rain forest, dressing up and playing lots of different drums and scrapers. The children create their own play and perform it for parents and the other children.
If you know of somebody who is musical or who owns a musical instrument, ask them if they would bring in their instruments to show the children, and play them a tune. Your Childcare Information Service at the town hall may be able to help you contact someone, or ask your local radio station to make a request.
The children's section in your public library should stock books that allow you to explore music through the ages (see list below). Find out about the wind instruments used by the Ancient Egyptians, minstrels in the Middle Ages and Victorian music halls. You could also explore Ragtime, blues, jazz and modern-day karaoke.
Recommended reading:
Sound Effects - Musical Instruments of the World by Barrie Carson Turner and John See. Belitha Press 2000 ISBN 1 841381160.
Eyewitness Guides - Music by Neil Ardley. Dorling Kindersley 1989 ISBN 0-86318-339-5.
J Song & Dance - Everyday History by John Malam. Franklin Watts Publishers 2000 ISBN 0 7496 3631.
