Project: Paper Plate Rattle
Level: Easy Age: 5 and up Materials needed: Two paper plates, some dried beans (about 1/2 cup), one paper towel tube, markers, crayons, rubber stamps and inks, paints, stickers, stapler, scissors Directions: Other rattles can be made using dried gourds. This summer, plant some gourds. Some may grow their own handles; others may need to have a stick pushed through and secured at the top and bottom for a handle. The dried seeds inside will make their own sound. To make a rattle from papier-mâchè, blow up a balloonand tape it to the end of an empty toilet tissue tube. Tear up newspaper in 1 × 4-inch strips. Mix one cup of flour and one cup of water in a bowl to make a thin paste. Saturate the newspaper strips in the paste and layer over the balloon, smoothing them out as you go. Cover the tube, too, and don’t forget to cover the end. Cover both balloon and tube with three to four layers of paste-saturated newspaper. Let the rattle dry and poke a hole through the rattle at one end. The balloon will pop and stay inside. Add some dried beans or pebbles until you like the sound and paste a few more strips over the opening to seal. Decorate with bright colors using tempera paints. Other shakers or rattles can be made from plastic milk jugs (keep the jug intact and put beans, pebbles, marbles, screws, nuts, seeds, rice, or whatever you can think of inside, screw on the cap, and use the handle to shake), small plastic food containers, metal molds or tins, oatmeal boxes, and coffee cans. By encouraging your children to create these simple rhythm-makers, you will begin to instill an uninhibited appreciation of music. For another instrument-building craft, check out Percussion Instruments.
