How to Fill a Tube for a Rain Stick

Put a bunch of homemade rain sticks together and you'll hear a variety of sounds. Because of the different fillers in each stick, some will evoke the hush of a soft rain and others may replicate the sound of a driving torrent. Anything small and smooth works well in a rain stick. You can even combine two different fillers to create a distinctive sound.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Tape or rubber band
• Seeds
• Beans
• Beads
• Macaroni
• Rice

1. Seal one end of the rain stick with paper and tape, or with paper and a rubber band.

2. Gather a variety of fillers for your rain stick. You can use bird seed, rice, beans, macaroni, popcorn seeds, buttons, pebbles or beads. Remember that a larger rain stick works better with larger fillings, like beans or macaroni. A smaller rain stick works well with rice and seeds, although beans give a small rain stick a loud, hard rain sound.

3. Test each filler until you find one that makes the sound you want. Pour 2 handfuls of a filler into the stick, cover the open part with your palm and rock the rain stick back and forth. Alternate rocking it fast and slow, so you hear all the sounds your rain stick makes. Smaller fillers, like rice and seeds, move through the tube faster and sound like a gentle, soft rain. Larger fillers move through quickly for a fast, powerful sound.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove some filler if the sound is muffled. This means there is so much filler in the stick, it isn't traveling well.