My son loves making lots of noise and enjoys singing as well as playing musical instruments so this morning I thought it would be fun to make some of our own music makers! This way my son could see how we make the music as well as being able to play with the shakers afterwards. It is a fun, homemade and cheap activity to keep children busy and entertained.
I had been saving up empty water bottles from when I was teaching as they always came in useful for different crafts and activities. Some of the different materials we used I had already at home and some I bought at the supermarket this morning. In our bottles we choose to use rice, small macaroni pasta, seashells, small rocks, dried green peas and porridge oats. We choose materials that wouldn’t all make the same sound when shaken and ones that were small enough to easily fit into the neck of the water bottle.
I prepared the materials into small bowls and then explained the different types of material to my son. I showed him what we were going to do by starting with our ‘easiest’ material – the rocks. I placed a couple of rocks into the bottle and then allowed my son to carry it on until all the rocks were gone. I then screwed the lid onto the bottle tightly (you could glue the lid on if you wish) and showed my son how it made lots of noise when we shook it. He loved shaking the bottle and hearing the different noises it made as we shook it faster and slower. We carried on with the other materials; using a different water bottle for each type of material. My son really enjoyed doing the pasta, seashells and dried peas but needed a little help with the rice and oats as they were much smaller in size.
We then had some music time were myself, my husband and my son shook the different bottles quickly, slowly, loudly and quietly. My son also enjoyed seeing the different materials move up and down the bottle as well as the noise they made.
*Other materials you could also use – salt, sugar, lentils, different types of cereal, sand, water, dried beans, buttons, popcorn, glitter etc
Materials used:
Empty water bottles (small size)
Seashells, from 100fils shop at Souk Salmiya (you could also use ones you have collected from the beach)
Small rocks, from Ikea at The Avenues (again you could collect your own at the beach)
Rice
Small macaroni Pasta
Porridge Oats
Dried green peas
Messy play mat, from Early Learning Centre, The Avenues
White box, from IKEA, The Avenues
ExpatFamilyQ8 