Handmade instruments that bring the world of music closer.
Their charm lies in how easy they are to make with materials you already have on hand, and in the fun of learning how sound is produced during the making process.
Using items like plastic bottles, cardboard, and rubber bands, you can create instruments that produce authentic tones.
The methods for making maracas, castanets, koto, and more are very simple.
Not only can you enjoy making and playing them with children, but it’s also a chance to learn how music works.
Use this as a reference and try making your own original instruments!
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Fun for Kids! A Collection of Homemade Musical Instrument Ideas Using Everyday Materials (1–10)
pipe chime
You can also make your own pipe chimes that produce a cool, refreshing sound.
It may seem difficult to tune them accurately, but you could have the pipes cut at a home improvement store.
Let an adult help with the tricky parts.
You can roughly check the pitch by sight—for example, the longer the pipe, the lower the note.
Also, if a pipe touches the wooden base, the sound will be muted and won’t resonate, so be careful when assembling.
It’s fun to play ensemble pieces with others using homemade instruments, isn’t it?
koto
Isn’t a musical instrument that you can not only make but also enjoy playing afterward an appealing toy for children? Here’s an introduction to the “Pororin Koto,” made using a tissue box that every household has.
Attach a slightly larger piece of styrene board to the end face of the tissue box and stretch rubber bands across it as strings.
Make the bridges from sturdy paper such as cardboard or thick paper, and it’s complete.
If you use a larger empty sweets box, you can probably string even more “strings,” and it’s also fun to decorate or draw around the box to create your very own koto.
straw flute
Believe it or not, even Dr.
Denjiro makes musical instruments.
Instruments powered by science are fascinating, aren’t they? This one is a reed flute: the cut end of a straw vibrates to produce sound.
As you can see in the video, the shorter the straw gets, the higher the pitch becomes.
Cutting the straw only works once, but if you could slide the straw in and out like a trombone to make it longer or shorter, you might be able to play various songs.
Keeping the reed section as is while devising a way to control pitch would also be a great learning experience, don’t you think?
trumpet
It’s astonishing that you can make a trumpet by hand.
A trumpet is essentially a long tube that’s coiled, with a bell at the end.
So if you can create something with the same structure, you can make something trumpet-like.
If you tape a funnel to the end of a coiled hose with vinyl tape, and stick something like the tip of the squeeze bottle used for mayonnaise at okonomiyaki stands (the kind you can buy at 100-yen shops) onto the hose’s opening as a mouthpiece, you’re done.
It takes a bit of technique to produce a sound, but have fun practicing!
Harp
How about handcrafting a harp—the “queen of instruments”—using everyday materials? It’s perfect for summer vacation projects or crafts! The harp’s base can be made from a 2-liter plastic bottle or cardboard, and the sound-producing strings are rubber bands.
Shorter rubber bands produce higher notes, while longer ones produce lower notes, so try adjusting them.
It’s simple enough for children to make, yet you can actually play it, so the fun continues after you finish! You can also decorate it to create a harp that reflects your personal style.
