Musical Instruments

Junk makes good musical instruments, as anything that makes a sound can be used.

Shakers

Ideas

1. Fill empty plastic water bottles with one sort of the following objects: Small stones, water (mixed with a little food colouring), sand, buttons, small coins, plastic teaspoons, beads etc.
2. Empty drink cans can also be easily filled:
Give each child a rectangular piece of paper to decorate and wrap around the outside of the tin can. Fill the can with objects (see 1 above). Attach some ribbon streamers and plug the hole of the can.
3. Yoghurt cartons:
Fill one of the cartons one third full with objects (see 1 above) and then stick the other carton upside down on top. Attach streamers.

Scrapers and pluckers

1. Empty plastic water bottles have ridges near the neck of the bottle that can be scraped with a stick.

2. Corrugated cardboard with the top thin layer removed can also be scraped for an interesting noise.

3. Plastic water bottles with a section cut out of the middle can be 'strung' with elastic bands and plucked to create a sound. Care must be taken as the edges of cut plastic bottles can be extremely sharp if not cut carefully.

Crashers

Equipment
Junk: empty tins, cans, large stones, wood, plastic bowls

Method

1. Use any two pieces of junk that when 'crashed' together create a sound.
2. Children can decorate these, but the instruments will make a quieter sound when covered with paper.