Make ’N Shake: Musical Instruments

Little kids love making music and art — so visiting artist Okaidja Afroso thought he’d combine the two during his recent stint as an artist-in-residence at Portland Children’s Museum. Though he has lived in Portland for years, Afroso drew inspiration from his own childhood in Ghana to create traditional drums and shakers, as well as creative instruments made from natural and recycled materials. The children made a wide range of wonderful creations, from flutes that were also shakers to boards that clicked together, rattles, and drums made from tins and cups.

With a little imagination and experimentation, anything is possible. After constructing these instruments made from household items, ask your kids questions about them. What do you notice? What sounds interesting to you? What works well? What could we do to make it even better?

BOTTLE RATTLE

For a variation, try filling a different container with the same filling or try using different fillings like bells, seeds or marbles.

Clean plastic bottle with cap
Beans or pebbles
Low-temp hot glue gun
Low-temp hot glue sticks

Instructions

1. Put the beans or pebbles in the bottle.

2. With help as needed from grown-ups, squirt hot
glue inside the cap and around the rim of the bottle. Carefully screw cap back on. Allow to cool and make sure cap is secured firmly.

3. Shake and play!

TAPE DRUM

Metal tin, such as a paint, coffee or cookie tin
Packing tape

Instructions

1. Tightly stretch the packing tape over the opening of the metal tin.

2. Decorate.

3. Play!

BOTTLE-CAP SHAKER

5-10 metal bottle caps
Hammer and nail
Work surface for hammering
Thin, bendable wire
Thick scrap wood works well
Y-shaped stick

Instructions

1. Place metal bottle caps top down on your hammer work surface. Using a nail, hammer, and a safe hammering technique, pound the nail just through the metal cap to create a small hole. Repeat with each cap

2. Thread the wire through all of the holes in the caps. Be careful of sharp edges.

3. Tightly wrap one side of the wire around one side of the “Y” stick. Then repeat with the other side of the wire on the other side of the “Y.”

4. Play! For variations, try using fishing line instead of wire, plastic bottle caps instead of metal, or a C-shaped stick.

Author
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Jess Graff

Artist in Residence Manager at Portland Children's Museum

Jess Graff is a Portland-based artist and educator, and the Artist in Residence manager at the Portland Children’s Museum. She has been teaching and working in the arts for 13 years. The Artist in Residence program brings regional professional artists to the museum to work with children and their families through drop-in programming. The residency program at the Museum is made possible by generous funding from Arlene Schnitzer and the Collins Foundation. For more information about Jess’s work please visit jessgraff.com.