Fall Craft Ideas, Gourd Drum, Rattle & Rainstick
Kids Crafts for Fall Include Three Fun Musical Instruments
May 17, 2009
Maybe kids had fun growing gourds during the summer, or picked some up on a family trip to the farmers market . As the season for fall craft ideas rolls around, parents may be looking for autumn crafts for kids that can make good use of them. Gourds have been used as musical instruments around the world for thousands of years. Here are instructions for three fall arts and crafts consisting of simple instruments people have been banging, rattling, and shaking for centuries.
Preparing Dried Gourds for Preschool Fall Crafts and Musical Instruments
Kids will know your gourds are ready when they hear seeds rattling around inside. Every gourd has a thin, rough skin that kids can scrub away with a scouring pad and some soapy water. Once the gourd’s skin feels smooth to the touch, families can begin the project.
Fall Crafts for Kids, Make Gourd Water Drums
To make a set of gourd water drums, all kids will need are two roundish gourds of different sizes. Parents can cut the tops off both with a hack saw and let their children scrape out the seeds and pulp. They’ll want to remember to save the seeds for next year’s crop. Kids can use a wire brush to scrape as much of the foamy pulp from the gourd’s inner shell as possible.
Now it’s time to decorate the drums. Treat gourd shells just like wood. Kids can either paint, or stain their creations. To finish them off and make them more durable, parents will want to seal the drums with a coat of polyurethane.
It’s concert time. Kids can set their larger gourd on the table like a bowl and fill it with water. The smaller gourd is placed upside-down, floating in the water. When struck with a mallet or stick, the water drums produce fun bass tones.
Kids can experiment with this instrument by changing the amount of water. They can also make several water drums of varying sizes for bongos, congas, or a full drum set.
Fall Craft Ideas, Make Gourd Rattles
Kids can make gourd rattles from birdhouse gourds, marakas, dippers, or even small ornamentals. Sometimes, the gourd seeds inside make enough noise on their own. If kids want a louder rattle, parents can drill a hole large enough to plug with a cork and allow kids to scrape seeds and pulp out with a wire. The more foamy pulp kids scrape from the inner shell, the louder their rattle will be.
Parents can let kids go wild decorating the rattles with paint and then seal them with a coat of polyurethane inside and out. To finish them off, kids can pour rice, beads, or beans inside and glue a cork in place to plug the hole.
Kids can experiment with different sizes of gourd shakers. The things they put inside the rattles will also have a big effect on the instrument’s sound.
Fall Arts and Crafts, Make a Gourd Rain Stick
A straight snake gourd makes a fun rain stick. To keep gourds from bending and curling, they’ll need to be grown on a trellis during the summer.
To begin, parents can use a hack saw to cut one end of the gourd off. They’ll want to save this piece because they’ll need to reglue it later. Kids can poke a wire inside to scrape out as much of the seeds and pulp as possible.
Next, parents will need to drill quarter inch holes in the snake gourd all the way down in a spiral pattern and glue wooden dowels in place so they reach across the inside of the gourd. They can cut the dowels flush with the outside and let kids sand them smooth.
To finish off the rainstick, kids can pour some beads inside, glue the top back in place. When the glue dries, they can brightly paint their instrument and tip it back and forth to hear the sound of rain.
Musical instruments are just one example of the fall craft ideas for a gourd harvest. Painted gourd creatures, birdhouses, bowls, spoons, and vases all make great gift ideas for the holidays.
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