Plastic Hose Shakers

What can you make from a plastic hose?  Why, beautiful music, of course!

Tube shakers and whirrers

On my last trip to the Scrapstore they had some hospital resuscitation hoses there.  Tristan and I thought they would be fun to use for setting up a hospital, running marbles through them, and we were sure we could find other uses for them as well!  We’ve made some plastic hose shakers and a whirrer.

Here are two quick and easy musical instruments to make using a plastic tubing.

The first couldn’t be any easier if you tried.  Simply cut a length of hose and grab it at the end and swing it around with your wrist in a circle and listen to the whirring noise it creates!  Kids will love this, but perhaps it’s best done outdoors and with supervision to prevent accidents.

The second instrument we’ve constructed is a plastic hose shaker.

We cut a length of hose about 2 feet long.  I cut a little round of paper and attached it to some duct tape which I fit over one end of the hose.  This will prevent the stones falling through while loading it up  The paper ensures nothing will stick to the tape.

Add some sand, pebbles, dried peas/beans into the tube.  We also added some shiny sequins to give a little bling to our band.

We then secured the other end of the tube the same as the first.  I had thought about leaving them open to allow the rocks to slide through but then I decided it was better to secure both ends in the event that the tube is pulled apart it will prevent the rocks and sequins from flying around the house.

I secured the ends of the tubes together into a circle with some more duct tape.  Then to make it look a little nicer I put some fancy packing tape over the top of it.

If you really want to make waves, wrap some ribbon around the tube and tie it off leaving long tails to add some drama to the music.

Have your child shake and rattle away all day with these quick, easy, and frugal musical instruments!

If you would like to add to your band, see how to make some wrist and ankle bells, or link into another 10 musical instruments featured on a Red Ted Art Google+ Hangout here.

Boogie on over to our music page to see more musical ideas that will get your foot tapping.