Photo from the Imagination Tree blog
It drives me a little bonkers. Preschoolers come home with paper towel tubes filled with rice and closed off on the ends with duct tape. “Awww, you made a shaker,” I comment, as I always zero in on any home-made musical instruments. “It’s a rain stick,” they proudly respond correcting me for what they think is a gross error.
I don’t get into it with them, because they are, after all, proud of their accomplishment, and who am I to tell them that they have, in fact, made a shaker – not a rain stick. I bite my tongue and walk away knowing that teachers are probably being cautious, because real rain sticks are made with hammer and nails. They have to be. It is the nails in a tube that stagger the sound and give a rain effect.
I found an excellent blog that gives step by step instructions on how to make a REAL rain stick. It is called “The Imagination Tree.” CLICK HERE to see their excellent step by step DIY instructions with great pictures.
You can always buy a rain stick. I like this one, because you can see the inner workings of it:
Here’s a link to the see-through rain stick on AMAZON.COM.
In my opinion, it’s more fun to make one though…especially on all of the rainy days we’ve been having here in Tucson. It’s a perfect Top 10 Tuesday activity, so go for it!
I hope you have enjoyed today’s Top 10 Tuesday music activity. For a complete list of the musical instruments under $40 that will help to promote music education in the home, click HERE. For an archive of previous Top 10 Tuesday music activities, click HERE. Make sure to check back every Tuesday for some more musical fun, and until next week, play on!
