homemade instruments Archives - Minds On Music

Let’s Play: Is it an Instrument?

Music. It’s all around you! You hear it in obvious places like the radio and TV, but music is also happening in nature and on the streets. It’s found in the rhythmic drive of jack hammers (albeit a bit annoying) and in the songs of birds. I’m going to give you the answer to the question I’ve posed in the title of this post: YES, IT’S AN INSTRUMENT! Anything and everything can become an instrument if you stretch the imagination. Let’s explore the possibilities…

Let’s Start with Percussion

This is the easiest place to start. Just about anything can become a drum – a bucket, a pot, a tennis ball can. If you collect a bunch of differently sized items, you can create a drum set! The folks over at Wikihow bring us three different methods of turning a coffee can into a drum.

But don’t stop there! How about creating some shakers, made from various household items. The folks over at Howcast show us how.

What About Pitched Instruments?

Homemade percussion instruments are pretty easy – you can bang on just about anything. But what about something that can make different tones or pitches? The crafting geniuses over at Mess for Less designed a homemade harmonica out of craft sticks and rubber bands! It’s a nifty little project that can be made rather quickly, providing lots of musical fun! This site has countless other ideas for activities and crafts – definitely worth bookmarking.

Strummies!

Okay – I’ll admit it…the name made me smile. Strummies are homemade “string” instruments that are super easy to make and very versatile in the sounds they can produce. What do you need? Teach Preschool provides instructions. Have fun! Decorate your instrument – make them personal. What do you need?

Empty boxes of various sizes
An assortment of rubber bands
A musical imagination

Box Guitar

Making homemade string instruments is lots of fun. Don’t limit yourself to boxes as your sound chamber. Try empty tubs of margarine or those plastic containers that pre-sliced deli meats come in. Each will provide a slightly different sound quality. If you want to get really crazy, you can even make a homemade guitar out of a shoe box. Once again, Wikihow gives us detailed instructions.

The Landfill Harmonic

Speaking of instruments created from repurposed items, if you haven’t heard of the Landfill Harmonic – or the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, you need to! In this Paraguayan where the primary money making activity is separating recyclable materials from trash, Favio Chavez has created something magical. This is an entire youth orchestra making music on instruments created from refuse. The groups story is told in the documentary film, The Landfill Harmonic. Take a look at the trailer here.

The Sky’s the Limit

Pretty amazing, huh? So look around your house…what might make an interesting sound? Have an old tennis racquet? Cut out those strings and add some rubber bands! Some extra PVC pipe taking up space? Cut some different lengths, paint them some flashy colors, and viola! – you have a pipe xylophone! There really is no limit to what you can use to make music. Remember, it’s all around us! So carve out some time to try one of these little projects with your young one. The journey is just as fun as the destination.

Put More Jingle in Universal Music Day with Homemade DIY Instrument Crafts for Kids

What better way to celebrate Universal Music Day than with some homemade DIY instrument crafts that don’t cost a lot of money, but will mean lots of together time, happy smiles, special memories, and joyful music-making! Instrument crafts are the perfect way to get young children engaged in hands-on learning, exploring their creative side, and even practicing some early science skills as together you investigate and experiment using different materials to create different sounds.

Homemade Instruments for Kids

Making your own homemade instruments doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. To get you started, here are two simple ideas from Kindermusik@Home:
Homemade Ankle Bells and a Homemade Guiro.

And if you want to add to your collection of homemade musical instruments or you want to play some musical games with the instruments you have made, check out these 20 Fabulous DIY Musical Games and Instruments. Though these ideas are geared for toddlers, they’re actually fun musical games and great homemade music instrument ideas for preschoolers and big kids too!

Kindermusik Giveaway

Families can enter for their chance to win a Kindermusik Gift Package ($50 value).
All families who submit a photo or video of their child making or playing a homemade instrument to the Kindermusik Facebook page from October 5, 2014 (12:00PM EST) – October 12, 2014 (12:00PM EST) are automatically entered for a chance to win a Kindermusik gift package ($50 retail value), filled with Kindermusik instruments, music, and books.
We encourage everyone to participate in our celebration of Universal Music Day! Check out the Kindermusik Pinterest page for more ideas!

FOL Fridays: Fine-Motor Coordination

During the first year or so of life, gross-motor activities dominate a child’s repertoire of movement, with the major objective being the mastery of walking.

As the child grows older, however, she can being to focus on activities – such as instrument exploration and finger plays – that encourage the development of small muscles… the same muscles needed to hold a pencil or play the piano someday!

Ideas for parents:

Two simple ways that you can help those small muscles develop include 1) making a basket of child-safe instruments available for your child to play with and 2) recalling some of those simple songs and chants from childhood, like “Eensy Weensy Spider” or “Twinkle, Twinkle” and singing them with your child as you do the motions together.

Visit the Kindermusik Pinterest page – Fun for Kids for ideas on child-safe and homemade instruments.

– Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

FOL Fridays: Why Make Music Together?

When creating music together in an ensemble, or group setting, each participant has the opportunity to experience music with “greater harmonic color, musical depth, variety of sound, and rhythmic complexities” than when participating alone. Ensemble opportunities also “stimulate and challenge” self-confidence, imagination, and musical understanding (Leung 2006).

Ideas for parents:

Create a little “ensemble” of your own. You can use homemade or purchased instruments and play-along to a favorite song on the iPod or radio, or even a song you sing. You might also have fun making an instrument out of something that isn’t usually an instrument – a bowl and a spoon make a great drum, a slightly inflated paper bag makes a nice rhythm instrument, and even two spoons tapped together add a nice sound.

– Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.