23 Apr Virtual Program: Make a Maraca

Grab a plastic Easter egg, two disposable spoons, lentils, and some tape to make your own maraca!

With your new maraca in hand, try out some of these activities:

Read: Find a book about music. If you don’t have any at home, there are eBooks available through our website. Using TumbleBooks, you can listen to Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves and enjoy the rhythm of the rhyming story. See if you can find a book with a maraca in the illustrations.

Write: Compose a song! Either write out some new song lyrics, or create a melody by writing your own notes onto sheet music.

Talk: Discuss noises and sound, or look up musical instruments and learn their names. Ask your child questions about the book you read, discuss details of the pictures in the book, or talk about how the story made you feel.

Sing: Sing a favorite song, and shake your maraca along to the beat. You can mix things up by singing the lyrics slower or faster than usual, or by using silly voices to make the song funny.

Play: Get the entire family in on the fun and pretend to be a marching band. What instruments can you play? Try an imaginary slide trombone or play a quick-paced song on a xylophone.

This maraca craft also has some easy STEM connections. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math doesn’t have to be a complex project.  Count beans or lentils with your child as you make your maraca. Tap out syllables of words and count them. Can you engineer a better handle out of something at home?

We’d love to see pictures of your experience with this virtual program; share them with us on our Facebook page!