Learn Together

Making music helps a child’s mind and body work together. Playing instruments enhances your child’s listening skills, rhythm, and fine motor skills.

Bonus! Making instruments out of everyday objects is a creative way to explore recycling while reducing your environmental footprint.

Materials

  • Toilet paper tube (Each tube will make one shaker)
  • Rubber bands
  • Fabric, magazine, plastic wrap, or parchment paper
  • Shaker filling: buttons, rice, beans, pasta, or anything else you have on hand

Make Together

There are a lot of different sounds you can make using simple materials you already have around the house.

  1. Cut two square covers out of fabric, magazine, plastic wrap, or parchment paper large enough to cover the end of a toilet paper tube (it should be at least an inch wider than your toilet
    paper tube).
  2. Center one square cover over one end of your toilet paper tube and secure it with a rubber band. Check to make sure that it doesn’t slip off!
  3. Flip your tube over.
  4. Fill the toilet paper tube with one or more types of filling. Your shaker will sound different depending on what filling you use and how full it is!
  5. Center the second square cover over the open side. Secure it with a rubber band. Check to be sure that it doesn’t slip off.
  6. Now shake, rattle, ’n roll!
  7. Cut more square covers and gather more toilet paper tubes to fill and create even more shakers that make different sounds.
  8. Make predictions about the sounds that different shaker fillings will make together. Will rice sound like rain? Will beads sound like thunder? What interesting combinations can you come up with? Try shaking fast and slow and practice counting together as you shake.
  9. Use your new shakers to enjoy CMOM’s partner Bash the Trash’s video An Online Journey through Latin America! Visit Bash the Trash on YouTube for more instrument-making fun.