Crafting musical instruments with everyday materials (2025 Update)
Educational and Fun Activities
Written by Alexandra Stone
01 July 2024
🕓 10 min
Crafting Musical Instruments with Everyday Materials
Music is one of the most exciting ways to explore the science of sound, and it’s even more fun when children can create their own musical instruments! Using simple household materials, children can craft instruments that demonstrate vibrations, pitch, frequency, and rhythm, all while sparking creativity and hands-on learning.
At The Science of Sound, we believe in learning through play and experimentation.
Our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps introduce children to the wonders of music and sound science through interactive activities. This blog will explore five fun and easy DIY musical instruments that children can make using everyday materials!
1. Rubber Band Guitar
A homemade rubber band guitar is a simple yet engaging way to introduce children to the science of sound and music. By stretching rubber bands of different sizes and thicknesses, kids can experiment with pitch, vibration, and resonance.
Materials Needed:
✔ An empty tissue box or shoebox
✔ Rubber bands (various thicknesses)
✔ A cardboard tube (optional, for the guitar neck)
Steps:
- Stretch different-sized rubber bands around the box, ensuring they are tight over the open part.
If using a shoebox, cut a hole in the lid for better sound resonance.
- Optional: Attach a cardboard tube to the box to create a guitar neck.
- Pluck the rubber bands and observe how different thicknesses create different sounds.
Why This Works:
This DIY guitar demonstrates that thicker rubber bands produce lower-pitched sounds, while thinner rubber bands produce higher-pitched sounds. This introduces the concept of frequency—higher frequency = higher pitch, lower frequency = lower pitch.
Fun Fact:
String instruments like guitars, violins, and harps work using the same principles! The length, thickness, and tension of each string determines the pitch of the sound produced.
At The Science of Sound, we encourage hands-on learning through STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps, where children get to build their own musical instruments and explore the science behind sound and music.
Explore the idea of pitch and frequency further in our blog post What is Audio Frequency?.
2. Shaker or Maraca
Shakers and maracas are simple percussion instruments that allow children to explore rhythm, texture, and sound variation. By using different materials inside, kids can experiment with how size and shape affect sound.
Materials Needed:
✔ An empty plastic bottle or a small container with a lid
✔ Rice, beans, lentils, or small pasta
✔ Tape or glue (to seal the container securely)
✔ Stickers or markers (for decoration, optional)
Steps:
- Fill the container about one-third full with rice, beans, or pasta.
- Secure the lid tightly using tape or glue to prevent spills.
- Shake the instrument and listen to how different fillers create different sounds.
- Experiment by mixing different materials—for example, combining rice and pasta for a varied sound texture.
Why This Works:
This activity demonstrates that the size, shape, and material of an object affect its sound. Larger fillers like beans produce louder, deeper sounds, while smaller ones like rice create softer, higher-pitched sounds.
Fun Fact:
Maracas are traditional instruments used in Latin American music! They are typically made from hollowed-out gourds filled with seeds or beads.
At The Science of Sound, we explore how sound is created through vibration and movement in our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps, allowing children to engage with hands-on music science activities.
For more fun ways to explore sound with kids, check out 5 Child-Friendly Ways to Visualise Sound at Home.
3. Paper Plate Tambourine
Tambourines are fun and easy-to-make percussion instruments that introduce children to rhythm, beat, and resonance. This DIY project allows kids to craft their own tambourines while learning how sound is created through vibration.
Materials Needed:
✔ Two paper plates
✔ Jingle bells or beads
✔ Stapler or glue
✔ Crayons or markers for decoration (optional)
Steps:
- Decorate the paper plates using crayons or markers for a creative touch.
- Place jingle bells or beads inside one of the plates.
- Staple or glue the plates together, leaving enough space for the bells to move freely.
- Shake the tambourine and observe how the beads or bells create sound.
Why This Works:
This activity teaches children that sound is created by vibrations. The shaking motion moves the bells or beads, which hit the sides of the plates, producing sound.
Fun Fact:
Tambourines have been used in music for thousands of years! They appear in many cultures, including classical European, Middle Eastern, and Latin American music.
At The Science of Sound, we introduce children to musical science and hands-on creativity in our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps, helping them explore the world of rhythm and percussion.
4. Straw Pan Flute
A pan flute made from drinking straws is a fantastic way to teach children about pitch, frequency, and how air vibrations create sound. This easy-to-make wind instrument helps kids understand why shorter tubes produce higher sounds while longer tubes produce deeper tones.
Materials Needed:
✔ Drinking straws (paper or plastic)
✔ Scissors
✔ Tape
Steps:
- Cut the straws to different lengths.
- Line them up in order, from shortest to longest.
- Use tape to secure them together in a row.
- Blow across the tops of the straws and listen to the different pitches.
Why This Works:
This activity introduces children to how the length of a vibrating air column affects pitch. Shorter straws vibrate faster, creating higher-pitched sounds, while longer straws vibrate more slowly, producing lower-pitched sounds.
Fun Fact:
Pan flutes have been used in ancient music traditions from South America to China! Traditional pan flutes are made of bamboo or reed pipes.
At The Science of Sound, we use hands-on activities like this in our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps, helping children explore the science behind wind instruments and air vibrations.
This is a great way to explain how the length of a vibrating object affects its pitch—similar to the concepts discussed in our post What is Audio Wavelength?.
5. Drums from Pots and Pans
Sometimes, the best musical instruments are already in your kitchen! Turning pots, pans, and containers into a DIY drum set allows children to experiment with rhythm, beat, and sound resonance in an engaging way.
Materials Needed:
✔ Pots, pans, or plastic containers (various sizes)
✔ Wooden or plastic spoons (for drumsticks)
✔ Optional: Different surfaces (e.g., metal, plastic, fabric) to compare sounds
Steps:
- Lay out different-sized pots, pans, and containers upside down.
- Use wooden or plastic spoons as drumsticks.
- Experiment with different rhythms and beats, noticing how the sound changes.
- Try tapping on different surfaces to compare how materials affect sound quality.
- Challenge children to create their own beats and rhythms!
Why This Works:
This activity helps children understand that larger containers produce lower-pitched sounds, while smaller ones create higher-pitched sounds. It also introduces the concept of resonance, where sound waves bounce and amplify inside hollow objects.
Fun Fact:
Drums are one of the oldest musical instruments in human history, with evidence of percussion instruments dating back over 7,000 years!
At The Science of Sound, we encourage children to explore rhythm, percussion, and the science of sound waves in our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps, turning everyday objects into hands-on learning experiences.
Final Thoughts
Making musical instruments from everyday materials is not only a fun activity but also an engaging way to learn about sound science. These DIY instruments introduce children to concepts like pitch, vibration, frequency, and rhythm, while also fostering creativity and hands-on learning.
Through play-based learning, children develop a deeper understanding of how sound waves work and how different materials affect sound production. Whether exploring percussion, wind instruments, or string vibrations, these activities provide a memorable, interactive experience.
At The Science of Sound, we are passionate about bringing sound science to life. Our STEM workshops, after-school clubs, and holiday camps offer exciting opportunities for children to build, play, and experiment with sound, making science both accessible and enjoyable.
Ready to dive into the world of sound? Join one of our hands-on learning experiences today!
