Make Musical Instruments

In a homeschooling class of grades 3 – 4, we made homemade instruments after reading The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. We listened to musical selections that Chester Cricket heard or played, and studied the science of sound. We duplicated the sound a cricket makes by stroking a stick across a plastic comb. We made kazoos from combs and cardboard tubes, coin castanet "clappers" out of cardboard and pennies, and rubber band guitars using shoebox lids. Then we performed a spontaneous concert!

More ideas for making instruments

More ideas for making instruments

• Play with your food! Vegetable instruments can be made in your kitchen. (Look for videos on youtube of vegetable instrument concerts!)
• It is possible to turn a bell pepper into an ocarina by placing the holes properly and blowing through the cut-off top. For instructions for other instruments, like a melon drum, see Musical Fruite & Veg Recipes.
• Make maracas from paper mache. Add a handle out of cardboard if you like.
• Cardboard box lid guitar, kazoos made from combs or cardboard tubes & parchment: Let's make music, Let's Make Music 2, Guitar, Kazoo, and Kammipill.
• Make coin clackers (cardboard castanets)
• Make a washboard percussion instrument
• Make a cigar-box violin
• Make a glass xylophone. Take a set of same-size glasses, fill with different amounts of water. Tap GENTLY with a spoon. The level of the water will determine the note.
  
• This inspiring short video shows violins and cellos made from trash, and also confirms that participating in the arts makes life worth living.