diy / music class at home... baby drum & shakers!

start a family band!

this DIY was inspired by none other than the grey boy. he is a musical little man. weather its singing a long monotone note, or tapping things together, or dancing when he hears music, or singing, dancing, and banging things together at the same time... 

its really noisy around here. so why not add to the noise with some real (handmade) instruments? (so sorry neighbors downstairs)

[mini blue tambourine found in the dollar section at target]

side note: when doing crafts / diy.. lincoln is normally on the floor next to me playing (and yelling). lincoln will stay occupied, most of the time, if i give him a variety of new objects to explore (and some food). most of my projects are done in chunks of time.. (which works great for painting and drying) i will take a break here and there... feed the kid.. then there is a nap time or two, 

and i can try and get more done. i really look forward to the days he can do projects with me. 

and then there is prince.. who just looks at me like i'm crazy, because i probably do look crazy most of the time.. 

for this project i've tried finding things around the house to make a drum.. drum sticks.. and shakers.
lots of variations but this is how i've designed our drum. i used some left over easter eggs for the shakers, but any small container will work (baby food jar).

material list:

- coffee can or a can of some sort.. preferably without sharp edges and a bottom

- small container (easter egg, spice jar, baby food jar, etc.)

- chopsticks (or two sticks)

- acrylic paint (i <3 grey and gold, but bright colors would look awesome too)

- paint brush

- rice or steel cut oats

- paint marker or sharpie

- felt (optional)

- fabric glue or hot glue gun

- tape (decorative washi tape or packing tape)

baby drum:

first you want to paint your can and chopsticks. you definitely need two coats on the can, but make sure the paint is dry before you add the second coat, otherwise you will pull up the paint from the first coat and it gets super messy!

second, you can add some felt decorations. (you can add felt, or glitter, or pom pom balls.. go crazy.) i chose to fray the felt to make it have an aztec feel. if you are doing this for your drum, make sure the "top" is actually your can's "bottom". the bottom of the drum should be hollow.

third, you want to glue two strips of felt to the chopstick ends, keep wrapping it around until its the thickness you want and then glue the ends down. [side note: if you have a little baby who likes putting everything in their mouth, i would recommend hot glue gun over fabric glue.]

fourth, add some personal touches with a sharpie or paint pen. maybe personalize it for your little one or make some doodles. 

shakers:

first, paint if needed and let dry. 

second, fill vessel with rice. 

third, close vessel and tape closed tightly.

fourth, shake shake shake!

he's still working on his drumming skills. he managed to drum with his hands and eat the drum sticks. and of course he knows how the shakers work.

i am really into playing the instruments and singing. i gave up on caring how bad my voice really is and just roll with it. i make lots of mom remixes to old songs. which probably doesn't make sense unless you hear it.. maybe one day ill record some of my rad baby songs. "i got.. i got.. i got got got.. the whole world, in my hands, i got the whole wide world in my hands, i got the whole world in my hands, i got the whole world in my tiny tiny hands" *while shaking the shakers and drumming... 

like i said.. prince know's whats up and thinks i'm nuts.