I really do love it when all my kids are home from school for the summer. Most of the time, that is. When they’ve told me they’re bored eighty thousand times in ten minutes I start to love it a little less… I usually tell them to head outside when they’re bored, but there are times when either the weather or seasonal allergies keeps us indoors, and that’s why I like to have a stock of easy kid crafts to turn them loose on. Today I’m sharing a kid-made drum set and kazoo. Both are super easy to make using inexpensive materials you probably already have at home.
Tin can drums are easy to make, and using graduated sized cans means kids can actually play different notes.
My daughter has requested that I tie them all together so she can wear them around her neck while marching around the house.
Add in the kazoo and she’s a one man band! One girl band. One person band. You get the idea.
Here’s a video that shows how to make the drumset (written instructions follow):
To make the drums, you will need:
- cans
- safety can opener that doesn’t leave sharp edges – I ordered this one from Amazon and I really like it!
- balloons – I used 7 inch balloons on smaller cans and 9 inch balloons on larger cans
- rubber bands
- dowels and beads for drumsticks (optional)
To make a drum, take the top off a can using the safety can opener, remove the contents, and wash and dry the can. Then cut the bottom off a balloon and stretch it tight over the open top of the can. Secure the balloon with a rubber band, and your drum is ready to play!
To make drumsticks, I bought dowels at the craft store and beads with holes the same diameter as the dowels. I just used school glue to glue the dowels into the beads.
The kazoo is really easy to make as well!
1 – Gather two large popsicle sticks, two toothpicks, one thick rubber band and two thin rubber bands. 2 – Put the thick rubber band around a popsicle stick, end to end as shown in the photo. Slide a toothpick under the rubber band close to one end, as shown. 3 – Place the second popsicle stick on top of the first one and secure them together with a thin rubber band. 4 – Place the other toothpick between the popsicle sticks at the other end (this one above the thick rubber band) and secure than end with another rubber band. 5 – Trim the points off the toothpicks. Blow or hum into the kazoo to make noise.
One more easy indoor craft activity to have in your pocket next time weather, allergies, or colds keep your kids inside!
We’ve been dealing with some allergies at our house this season, and I recently discovered Boogie Wipes. They’re a moist wipe infused with saline, an all natural ingredient that dissolves snot and mucus. Thank you to Boogie Wipes for sponsoring this post. All opinions expressed here are my own.
These things are incredible! They’re moist, which makes them more comfortable to use than tissues, but unlike other wipes they have no drying chemicals like alcohol or chlorine, which means they won’t dry out or irritate kids’ sensitive skin. My younger kids usually HATE blowing their noses, and will walk around sniffing all day to avoid doing so (it drives me batty!) but they both love Boogie Wipes. No more irritation or red chapped noses.
I purchased Boogie Wipes in the Fresh scent, which is light and pleasant, but there’s also a Grape scent which many kids prefer. After using these for a few days, I can only imagine how much I would have loved Boogie Wipes when my kids were babies!
If you’d like to give Boogie Wipes a try, click here for a $.50 off coupon. You can also find tips and tricks for dealing with seasonal allergies here.
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Julie Wilson says
I want to make this with toddlers. would it work using small rubber bands instead of toothpicks to separate the ends do you think? also what do you think about using tape to wrap over the tape once the kazoo is finished? would it diminish the way it plays do you think? the cardboard tube and wax paper way doesn’t work well with my toddler class.