You can

Make trumpets, drums, rhythm sticks, shakers, rubber band guitars, or skittles.

To make shakers

You will need:

• A plastic container or solid jar with a lid, or a small lidded tin.
• Something to fill the container with. For example, pebbles, seeds, sand, marbles, beads, shells, buttons, twigs or acorns.

You can:

• Half fill the container and secure the lid tightly and safely.
• Shake to some music.

Try making these too:

• Have a guessing game, guessing the song you are drumming.
• Make shakers using papier-mâché.
• Hammer metal or plastic bottle tops to a stick to make a vertical shaker.

To make drums

You will need:

• Tins or containers of different sizes.
• Wooden spoons, metal spoons, chopsticks.

You can:

• Flip the tins over and go for it.
• Encourage your child to decorate the tins using felts, paint or collage.

You can also:

• Put a piece of paper tightly over the end of a cylinder and secure it with a rubber band or string.
• Tap to make sounds with fingers, spoons, chopsticks or brushes and listen to the different sounds.
• Try different sized cylinders.

Did you know

• That making and playing instruments is a healthy and positive way to release energy.

What your child is learning

• An appreciation and knowledge of music (eg: rhythm, volume, tune, timing etc).
• Familiarity with different instruments and types of music.
• Music is a way to express feelings.
• Music is fun and adds value to an occasion.
• Everybody can be a musician.