Whether you're grooving at an outdoor concert or listening to tunes on your iPod, our tips this week will help you express your environmentalism through music.
Tip #2: Make Your Own Instruments
Encourage your children's creativity, or have fun with musically inclined adult friends, with DIY instruments. Tin cans, cardboard boxes, and paper plates can be recycled into a rhythm section. Even vegetables can be musical: the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra performs concerts using only edible instruments. Find tutorials for making "carrot strummers" and "eggplant clappers" on PBS's The Greens Web site. When your concert is over, throw your instruments into a pot and enjoy a healthy dinner.
Share your tips: What are your suggestions for making homemade instruments?
That is a neat idea. Children can have fun with veggies.
Posted by: Wedding Girl | July 14, 2009 at 10:51 AM
One of my favorite childhood projects was to take an old light bulb, cover it with many layers of papier-maché, paint it any way you want, then, when it's dry, crack the bulb inside by lightly hitting it against a hard surface. Yay! Handmade maracas!
Posted by: Alyssa | July 14, 2009 at 01:18 PM
What a great blend of my love for percussion and my love of plant food! Music and a concert, all in one. This will be a feature on my blog very soon! The kids will love it....
Posted by: Barbara DeGrande | July 14, 2009 at 01:19 PM
Great post.
Posted by: Bob | July 14, 2009 at 05:04 PM
It may be more of a challenge however, I have seen youtube videos of people making wind instruments from carved carrots and also a watering can. The sound they produced was incredible.
Posted by: Childrens Musical Instruments | November 26, 2009 at 05:08 PM
Great idea! I may have my kids in my instruction give this a try. Nice way to break up the monotony of regular music lessons.
Posted by: jake - starter drums expert | November 27, 2009 at 08:10 PM