Monday, September 14, 2009

A Homemade Rainstick: We Made It!!

This weeks Unplugged project was sound , and in honor of this theme we made a giant rainstick.
We started with a big mailing tube, a hammer and nails.
Being a little man, Mark had the honor of nailing the nails into the tube.
We used 6 nails and hammered them in at 90 degree angles to each other down the tube.
We realized after the fact that we could have used twice as many nails and had a good sound from our rainstick.
Gracie then painted the tube brown.
She used acrylic craft paint.
For decorations, Kim and Luke stuck these re-enforcement stickers onto the tube.
This was a real cute activity for them be a part of making the rainstick.
It is also great for those fine motor skills little ones need to practice.
Luke was especially excited about this design.

I let them fill up the tube with stickers and then got beans and rice ready to add to the tube.
We added about 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of lime beans-this tube is big!
I also used some purple duct tape to secure the lids onto each end of the tube.
I also used some duct tape to add a little more decoration to the tube.
To keep the stickers in place and to keep the paint from flaking off, I put clear contact paper onto the tube.
It sounds just like rain as you tip it from one side to the other.
You can listen to the fun here. You will also get to hear Kimmy singing along with the rainstick.
Check out all the Unplugged project here.
Next week's Unplugged Project is feather

8 comments:

  1. Great idea with the contact paper. Looks like a fun project.

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  2. We just need to find the right kind of tube! Did the nails stay in?

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  3. That is just so cute! Awww, I loved listening to Kimmy sing.

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  4. Love it, Joann. We've been talking alot about rain here lately, so this is another good project to "steal" from you guys! &:o)

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  5. Okay, you've outdone yourself, girlfriend! I'm totally blown away w/ the audio thingie! You'll be getting an email titled "Hey, Joann-you've gotta tell me how to do that!" LOL
    Awesome, awesome blog ;-)
    (and cutest kids in the world..next to mine of course..LOL)

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  6. I always wondered how rain sticks worked. That seems like a great activity for all ages!

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  7. I have always wanted to try making a rain stick. Yours turned out really well. I especially like the reinforcements as decoration. They look very modern and fun! Very cute video too. Thanks (as always!) for playing along!

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