Tag Archives: green music crafts

Kaleidoscope Rattles

Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope to see an ever-changing array of beautiful colors?

Here’s a fun little rattle that creates a lovely flow of colors when it’s played. And it’s nice and quiet so it’s perfect for music-making with a large group of children or for kids who have noise sensitivity. It’s also one of our favorite projects for creating with kids on the autistic spectrum as it’s fun to make, easy to control and the sound is soothing and not harsh or abrupt.

Here’s what you need to make your own kaleidoscope rattles.

Supplies

Clear Recycled Plastic Bottles (like from water or juice) with a lid
Q-tips
Washable markers
Electric tape (for sealing the rattles)

What To Do

Clean and dry the plastic bottles thoroughly. You can do this easily by rinsing them out and placing them upside down in a regular glass or a jar.

Next take the washable markers and color the tips of the Q-tips any color that you like. Color as many as you like and drop them into the bottle.

Every so often, shake the bottle to see if you like the sound. The tone of the rattle will change each time you add another Q-tip to the container!

When you’re satisfied with the array of color and the sound of the rattle, put the lid on and seal it up with electrical tape to keep the contents inside.

Time To Play!

Shaking the rattle around in a circular motion displays a wonderful changing series of colors. But since this is a rattle, you can play it any way you like. Shake it up and down, side to side or get up and dance with it!

Shake it along with a favorite song that you love to sing. Or play along to recorded music. Make several and compare the sounds as well as the colors as you enjoy your handiwork.

Have fun and keep making music!

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Posted in Babies and Music, Classroom Music, Early Learning With Music, First Instruments, Homeschool Musical Fun, Music and Hearing, Simple Instruments, Special Needs/Kids of All Abilities

Tagged childrens music., children’s music crafts, children’s musical instruments, Daria, DIY rattles, Green music, green music crafts, homeschool music, kids green music projects, kids music crafts, music projects autistic children, music projects autistic kids, Musical rattles, MYO rattles, preschooler, quiet rattles, recycled crafts, recycled instruments, recycled music, toddlers and music, unusual percussion, young children and music

New Year’s Eve Noisemakers – Recycled Rattles!

Ring in the New Year – with recycled rattles!

While you’re wrapping up one year and preparing for a new one, here’s our second post in a series of fun and easy noise-makers for enjoying New Year’s Eve with children.

I often call these “everything except the kitchen sink” rattles, because you get to use whatever supplies that are left over from the holidays or from craft projects during the year gone by.

Start With A Clear Container

Check your recycling bin for nice sturdy clear plastic containers, such as bottles from iced tea or liter sodas. Rinse them then set them up side down to dry. Meanwhile, go on a treasure hunt for rattle fillings.

Loud Rattles, Quiet Rattles

Here are some of our favorite supplies for making truly loud rattles: large dried pasta, dried beans, buttons, large beads, or pebbles. For quieter rattles, look for smaller objects such as birdseed, rice, Q-tips, cut-up straws, paper clips, small buttons or beads and tiny pasta such as acini de pepe.

Add Some Color And Bling!

If you have extra holiday supplies on hand you can add jingle bells, glitter, confetti or colorful paper shreds to give a festive look to your New Years Eve rattles. You can also reuse ribbon and wrapping for colorful handles.

Seal The Rattle

Always remember to be child-safe and seal the completed rattles with a sturdy tape such as electrical or washi tape. That way, they can be lots of fun without presenting a hazard from the smaller contents inside the rattle.

Stay Tuned For Monkey Drums And Stadium Horns!

Our next post will be a fun variation on the Chinese bolang gu or monkey drum, plus a DIY vuvuzela stadium horn.

Honk if you’re hoping for a happy New Year!

Links and Resources

Recycle Holiday Supplies Into Noise-makers http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/babies-and-music/noisemakers-new-years-eve-craft/

Bolang Gu – Chinese Monkey Drum Craft https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monkey-Drum-Chinese-New-Year-Drum-Craft-1748044

Make Your Own Vuvuzela Stadium Horn https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Vuvuzela-Make-Play-Your-Own-South-African-Stadium-Horn-1242716

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Posted in Early Learning With Music, Family Fun, First Instruments, Homeschool Musical Fun, Musical Crafts, Simple Instruments

Tagged children and music, childrens music projects, childrens music., Children’s New Years Eve Craft, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, dariamusic, Easiest Instruments For Children, Green crafts, green music crafts, green musical crafts, kids green crafts, Kids New Years Eve Craft, New Years Eve Craft, Noisemaker crafts, Noisemaker crafts for children, Noisemaker crafts for kids, Noisemakers, Noisemakers New Years Eve Craft, playing music with young children, toddler music, world music with daria, young children and music

Noisemakers New Years Eve Craft!

How will you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

It’s almost impossible to think of New Year’s Eve without some kind of noise-makers! Many adults have fond memories of banging on pots and pans, blowing toy horns and generally marking the arrival of a New Year with lots of sound and merriment!

Over the next few days, we’re sharing some simple, recycled crafts you can make with your children to ring in the New Year with joyful noise!

Crazy Octopus Rattles

These recycled rattles are easy to make and hold for even the youngest of children. They’re fun to shake without being overly loud. The supplies are found around any home and include wrapping paper (or toilet paper rolls), tape, colorful tape and ribbon or yarn.

How To Make It

Cut the wrapping paper rolls (or toilet paper rolls) into smalls sections. If you like, add stickers to the little sections or you can even paint them, if you have the extra time!

When the sections are ready, reserve two sections for the handle. Cut lengths of yarn or ribbon about 12 – 18” long, making each one slightly different in length. Then, the child can string each of the remaining sections onto a length of yarn or ribbon. The adult can help thread the yarn through one remaining section and tape it into place. Although this might look a bit messy during the process, it will be covered up by the handle when the project is complete.

When you’ve strung a number of sections (8 for an octopus) you can add the handle. Cut the last section and slip it over the section where the yarn or ribbon is taped to form a sturdy handle. Cover the handle with colorful electrical tape, fancy duct tape or washi tape to look more decorative for the New Year!

How To Play

Shake it up… shake it down. Shake it all around. Especially at midnight or the hour you’re marking as New Years Eve! Make several with different colors or materials. Add some extra jingle bells, if you like.

And have a merry, musical New Year’s Eve!

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Posted in Babies and Music, Early Learning With Music, Family Fun, First Instruments, Homeschool Musical Fun, Musical Crafts

Tagged children and music, childrens music projects, childrens music., Children’s New Years Eve Craft, Daria, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, dariamusic, Easiest Instruments For Children, Green crafts, green music crafts, green musical crafts, kids green crafts, Kids New Years Eve Craft, New Years Eve Craft, Noisemaker crafts, Noisemaker crafts for kids, Noisemaker crafts fro children, Noisemakers, Noisemakers New Years Eve Craft, octopus musical rattles, octopus rattles, playing music with young children, toddler music, under the seas rattles, world music with daria, young children and music

Ocean Drum From A Pie Box – A Thanksgiving Music Craft

Who doesn’t love the soothing sound of the surf? And who doesn’t have too many pie boxes around this time of year?

Combine those two things and you can have a handy, functional ocean drum made from a few materials found around your home.

What Is An Ocean Drum?

If you haven’t already fallen in love with an ocean drum, it’s a simple frame drum with small round objects between the two heads. (You’ll get a chance to see and hear one below! ) When you tilt it from side to side, the little objects roll and the sound created is like waves lapping against the shore. And even our craft version can create the relaxing and hypnotic effect of this quieting drum.

Gather A Few Supplies

Make sure you have a sturdy pie box, then look for whatever you have around your house that is small and round. Almost any item will work, but objects like seed beads or round “acini de pepe” pasta will sound remarkably like the ocean. Remember, the smaller and rounder the object, the more it will sound like the surf!

Then check your craft area for any supplies to decorate. You can leave your pie box plain or feel free to make it unique by adding paint, stickers or other creative design ideas. In the image at the top of this post, you can see that we painted the sides and added our favorite fishy stickers to keep with the ocean theme.

Add It In, Seal It Up!

When you’ve completed your decoration, add your filling to the drum and see how it sounds. The sound will change when you add more or less of what you’ve chosen to use, so adjust the contents until you’ve found the perfect sound for you.

Last, seal up with clear tape – packing tape works the best to keep all the tiny objects secure inside the box.

Check out the Real Thing… And A Sturdier Craft Version

Love this drum? Here’s a short video of a real ocean drum demonstration. And below is a link to a step-by-step tutorial for a sturdier version made with a packing box. The larger size and the stronger cardboard make for a more resilient version of this enjoyable musical craft.

Special Kids and Adults And the Ocean Drum

This is one of our favorite crafts for creating with kids and adults of all abilities. There are dozens of ways to personalize and play it, so these crafty oceans drums have been a bit hit when we are asked to do workshops with our special friends!

We hope you love them, too!