Making musical instruments with your child can be easy and fun! You can use a variety of household objects to get your hands clapping and your toes tapping in a creative activity that will enhance your child's motor skills, coordination, and expressive language.
Parts List for a Great Guitar
- shoe box
- four large rubber bands
- paper-towel tube
- tape
- scissors
- construction paper
- glue
- markers and crayons
What to Do
Ask your child if he or she knows what a guitar is. Then discuss the parts of a guitar and how it's used.
Put out the shoe box, rubber bands, and paper-towel tube and let your child experiment with them. Together, talk about how you might make a guitar using these materials.
Help your child tape the cover onto the shoe box. Then cut a five-inch hole in the center of the top and a two-inch hole on one end of the box.
Ask your child to push the tube through the two-inch hole to make the guitar neck (to use as a handle). Then help her to carefully stretch the rubber bands around the box, from one end to the other (two on each side of the tube). Make sure they are stretched directly over the hole in the top.
Put out construction paper, glue, markers, and crayons, and invite your child to decorate her guitar. Now she's ready to strum away!
More Ways to Make Music Together
Strike up the band. Help your child make other instruments that she can play along with her guitar. Use household items such as cans, small screws, and juice cartons to make a shaker and a drum. Or use your imaginations to make up your own instruments! Your child can decorate them to create a colorful band.
Write your own songs. Ask your child what she would like to sing about. If she needs help, suggest subjects such as her favorite foods or toys. Then together make up lyrics for the song. Use your set of instruments to add the melody.
Record a tape. Use a tape recorder to make the fun last! You'll be able to listen to the music you've made together anytime you like!
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