Handmade Musical Instruments Craft for Preschool

This handmade musical instruments craft for preschool kids is sure to be a hit – musically and play-wise! The best part? Handmade instruments tend to be quieter than their real versions! Win-win, parents!

We have a piano in our home. And as noisy as it gets, nothing is more thrilling to my heart than to hear my toddler and preschooler banging (gently!) on the keys and singing at full volume.

Watching my children develop their musical abilities brings me great joy. Music, whether played by the child or listened to, has a positive impact on a child’s development in literacy, math, social, and physical skills. Not to mention the creative aspect.

We do love our piano, but not everybody has one handy. Plus, sometimes I need them to play their music a little quieter (yes, that starts at such an early age!).

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Another way my kids satisfy their need for noisemaking is with their toy musical instruments. A band in a box is a handy way to introduce music-making to your kids.

Handmade Musical Instruments Craft Ideas

If there aren’t enough musical instruments to go around, it’s easy to make handmade instruments of their own! We enjoy coming up with new “instruments” with found objects around the house.

Beyond the simple banging on pots and pans, here’s a few ideas for handmade instruments:

Handmade Straw Pipes

Make a Box Banjo

Get a rectangular tissue box with the large opening and empty it out. Be sure to remove the plastic film sometimes over the opening. Let your child decorate the box with colored tape, markers, or stamps. Perhaps glue on a mosaic of torn paper strips. Or, kids could decorate with glitter stickers for a glam effect. Sometimes the tissue box is already pretty enough!

Then stretch three to four sturdy rubber bands around the box going up and down the longest side, making sure the bands stretch over the opening. Tape a ruler or paint stirrer to the back!

Strum away!

DIY Shaker Stick

Decorate a paper towel tube: tape, stickers, markers. Seal off one end with a rubber band around a piece of wax paper, then secure further with packing tape. Take a foot-long sheet of aluminum foil and crumple it along the length, so you have a long wrinkly stick of foil. Insert this foil into the paper towel tube. Then add about a half cup of small items like dry beans or rice – parents will have to supervise young children with the small pieces. Seal off the other end of the tube securely.

Show your child how to shake the stick or turn it up and then down to hear the objects inside rattling against the foil. If your stick isn’t rattle-y enough add a second stick of foil.

Play those Bongo Boxes

All you need are some cardboard blocks or boxes. Line and stack them up in a semi-circle and you have an instant bongo drum set! Let the beats begin!

Kids will love making instruments as much as they love to play them. Keep their handmade instruments with their wooden ones for house of musical entertainment and learning!

Play ideas for handmade musicals instruments:

Play along to the beat of a song you play.
Play fast or slow
Teach the instrument names, and have children identify each one you hold up
Play musical chairs while one child plays their instrument
Play the instrument with your back to the children and see who can shout out the correct instrument name first