Let’s make some music! Maracas are a great tactile activity that can be made with virtually anything, but here’s how we did it:

Collect:

• Cardboard tubes,
• Paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• ‘Noise makers’ (lentils, popping corn, sago – or anything else you have around)

Trace the end of your tube on the centre of the paper, then make a number of cuts into that point (A great fine motor practice for your younger tots!)

Attach your paper to the end of your tube with tape. (Even the older kids had to think hard about the best way to achieve this – no one has as many hands as we would like!)

Fill your tube with the desired combination of noisy thing. (The youngest tot loved the sensation more than anything else in this activity!)

Get the desired sound from your tube, note the different sounds that different things make. Talk about why different things might make different sounds (size, shape, weight etc)

Attach the paper to the other end of the tube (same method as above) and shake away!