How to Make a Musical Instrument With a Recycled Water Bottle

Making a musical instrument from a recycled pill bottle is easy. It is a nice way to reuse an old plastic water bottle too. Try making a few of these with different items in each to get a different sound from each finished musical shaker. You can paint and decorate the outside of the instrument any way you like.

Things You'll Need

• An empty used individual plastic water bottle with the top
• Acrylic paints (small tubes from any craft store)
• A small plate to pour the paint on
• A sponge craft paintbrush
• Beans, rice, dried seeds, marbles, beads or whatever you choose for a noise shaker filling

Instructions

1. Make sure the water bottle is completely dry on the inside. Then carefully put your chosen musical instrument filling in the bottle. Fill it as much as you like. There will be different sounds according to how full or empty you make it. Don’t fill it more than half full or it will be too heavy.

2. Close the top securely. You don’t want it coming open when you are playing the instrument.

3. Put acrylic paint on the plate and with the sponge paintbrush begin painting the outside surface of the recycled water bottle. Do whatever design you like. Make sure you cover the whole surface of the water bottle so that you can’t see inside of it.

4. Set aside and let the paint dry completely. Now you have musical instrument. You can use these as party noise makers too or for school concerts and plays for making sounds.