Music activity
Music Maker
Make your own musical instruments from household items! Shake rice containers, strum rubber band guitars, and tap box drums. Play along to your favorite songs.
Materials and setup
- rubber bands
- boxes
- rice or beans
- containers
- sticks
- water glasses
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Make your own musical instruments from household items! Shake rice containers, strum rubber band guitars, and tap box drums. Play along to your favorite songs.
Steps
- SAFETY: rice and beans are choking hazards. Seal shaker containers tightly with tape or a glued lid so nothing can spill out. Adult checks every shaker before the child uses it.
- Gather materials: empty containers, rubber bands, rice or beans, sticks, and boxes.
- Make 3 instruments together: a shaker (rice in a sealed container), a drum (box with sticks), and a guitar (rubber bands stretched over a box opening).
- Explore the sounds: shake, tap, and strum each instrument.
- Play a song and keep the beat with your instruments.
- Make up a silly song together and perform it using your homemade band.
Learning objectives
- Create simple musical instruments from everyday household materials
- Explore different sounds: shaking, tapping, and strumming
- Keep a steady beat while playing along with music
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Build a set of instruments, learn about rhythm and tempo, and compose a short song. Share it with your family with a band name and concert poster.
Steps
- Build at least 4 instruments: shaker, drum, rubber band guitar, and a water glass xylophone (glasses with different water levels).
- Experiment with each instrument: Can you play loud and soft? Fast and slow?
- Learn about rhythm: clap a pattern and copy it on your instruments. Try 3 different rhythms.
- Compose a short song with a repeating pattern (verse and chorus structure).
- Create a band name and concert poster. Share your song with your family.
Learning objectives
- Build multiple instruments and understand how they produce different sounds
- Demonstrate understanding of rhythm, tempo, and dynamics (loud/soft)
- Compose and perform a simple song with a repeating structure
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Design and build instruments, learn about pitch, rhythm, and melody, and compose an original song with multiple parts. Share your performance and create cover art.
Steps
- Research how instruments make sound: vibration, pitch (high/low depends on size and tightness), and volume.
- Design and build 3 instruments with attention to tuning: a xylophone with tubes of different lengths, a rubber band guitar with varying band thicknesses, and a drum set with different sized containers.
- Experiment with your instruments to create a scale (a series of notes from low to high).
- Compose an original song with a melody, rhythm pattern, and at least 2 sections (verse and chorus).
- Record your performance using a phone or tablet if you want (parent supervised), or perform it live for family.
- Design cover art with a band name and song title.
Learning objectives
- Explain how vibration, size, and tension affect pitch in instruments
- Compose an original song with melody, rhythm, and verse/chorus structure
- Present a musical performance with supporting artwork
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Explore the science of sound and music theory. Build precision instruments, compose a multi-part arrangement, learn about music notation, and produce a recorded track or live showcase with notes.
Steps
- Research the physics of sound: frequency, wavelength, amplitude. How do these relate to pitch, tone, and volume?
- Build precision instruments: tune a water glass xylophone to an actual scale, build a multi-string instrument with different pitches, create a wind instrument from tubes.
- Learn basic music notation: whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, rests. Write a simple melody using notation.
- Compose a multi-part arrangement with at least 3 instruments playing different parts that fit together (melody, harmony, rhythm).
- Record your arrangement and edit it into a finished track, or prepare it for a live family showcase. Create short notes explaining your instruments, composition process, and the science behind your sounds.
- Share your piece with your family and explain your creative and scientific process.
Learning objectives
- Apply the physics of sound to build and tune instruments with precision
- Read and write basic music notation for original compositions
- Compose and record a multi-part musical arrangement
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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