How to Make a Tambourine With Bells for Kids
Parents of young children often look for ways to introduce their kids to music. Even a modest homemade version of the classic tambourine with bells can help develop a child's awareness of rhythm. Children as young as three or four will enjoy making a tambourine because it involves basic hand and finger skills -- such as coloring, cutting and threading small objects -- that they have probably mastered. All the materials are inexpensive and readily available. When your child completes his tambourine, you can teach him a few simple rhythms and then encourage him to use his tambourine as a costume accessory or as a colorful wall decoration.
Things You'll Need
- Two white paper plates
- Stapler
- Pencil
- Hole puncher
- Seven twist ties
- Seven jingle bells
- Decorative ribbon
Instructions
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1
Turn the two paper plates face-down on your work surface. Instruct your child to color the plates any way he likes, using crayons, markers or colored pencils.
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2
Press the edges of the two plates together with your child's art work directed outward. Line up the edges of the plates as precisely as possible.
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3
Staple the plates together, spacing your staples evenly around the circumference of the plates. The stapled plates form the basis of your child's tambourine.
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4
Make seven light pencil marks near the edge of the tambourine, spacing the marks equally around the plates. Allow your child to punch a hole at every mark, guiding his hands if necessary and offering to help him squeeze the hole puncher if he has difficulty.
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5
Thread the twist-tie through one jingle bell and draw the bell along the twist-tie until it lies flush with the edge of the tambourine. Twist the ends of the twist-tie together to secure the bell in place.
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6
Ask your child to repeat the process of pulling a twist-tie through a hole, stringing a bell onto it and twisting its ends together tightly. Continue until you and your child have attached all the bells to the tambourine.
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7
Ask your child to cut four or five long strips of the multi-colored ribbon. Tie one end of all the strips together in a single knot and staple the knot to the tambourine.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't punch your holes too close to the edge of the tambourine or the twist-ties will rip through the plates.
Demonstrate how your child can achieve a variety of sounds by shaking, rubbing or striking his tambourine lightly with a pencil.
Because small jingle bells are a choking hazard, supervise young children throughout the project.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
