May 27: Rainstick



We usually use cardboard tubes as trumpets...



I think rainsticks are intriguing!  When I was teaching I had one I used to quite the class...I'm not sure what happened to that one, but I was excited to make one for this week's project!  I'd found this idea HERE at The Imagination Tree.  I wasn't sure we'd be able to make it, though, because you needed a thick cardboard tube, and we only ever have thinner ones from paper towel and toilet paper rolls.  And then my saran wrap ran out and in the center was a heavy-duty card board tube - perfect! 

Lovin' the hammer!



Tysen was SUPER excited to use Daddy's hammer for the project today, and he did really well with it, too!  I'd start the nail until it was secure and then let him pound it in.  I placed the nails at different levels and different angles so the rice, etc. falling through the tube would hit many of them to make the rain sound last longer.  We probably could have used more nails for this. 



Filling it with rice.



We used book tape to secure the bottom of the tube, and then I had Ty put some rice in the top.  His face lit up with a smile when he heard the rice trickle through the nails!  He quickly added more and more, giggling each time it "rained".  I also had him add dried pinto beans for a slightly different sound.  After adding those he asked, "What else can we put in here?  How about nuts?"  I wasn't sure I wanted nuts in there, so we found some macaroni noodles instead.  We sealed the top with more book tape and tried out the new rainstick.  Fabulous! 

 

So proud!

I asked Ty if he wanted to decorate his new rainstick with paint, paper, markers, or stickers, but he wasn't really interested in any of that.  He was waiting for his friend Ian to come over to play and that's just about all he could think about now that he couldn't use Daddy's hammer anymore.  I decided to wrap the tube in wood-looking contact paper just to protect little fingers from the nail heads...don't need any of those coming out!  Tysen was thrilled with the result!