Kids and Art : Use Recyclable Containers to Make Fun Music Drums!

You can use recyclable containers to make fun and easy music drums and other music instruments! This is an easy and affordable music and art project for the classroom, home, camp, church, or homeschooling group. To make a music instrument like a fun drum only takes a bit of imagination and some recyclable materials!

What you will need to make a Recyclable Music Drum

To make a recyclable music drum each child will need a container. I have used everything from large plastic ice cream tubs to oatmeal containers to large recyclable metal cans to create music drums. The key is that it is large enough to project music sound, that it is clean and safe (no sharp edges), and that each child can decorate the container.

Choose the art supplies you need to make a music drum depending on the type of recyclable art containers that you choose to use. For example, I created twenty music drums for a group of special needs children using plastic ice cream tubs. Because the drums could not be painted, I filled each with a large sheet of construction paper that was covered with music notes. The music notes could be seen through the sides of the ice cream tubs. The drum lids were decorated similarly. Oatmeal containers and boxes can be painted easily with art paints, and you can use stickers for extra art decorations. For metal cans, stickers and colorful tape worked best, as did permanent markers.

If you decide to use art paint, use a non-toxic kid-friendly paint. Acrylic sticks better to most surfaces. Just be aware that acrylic art paint does not wash out of clothes. Use old t-shirts as art smocks if you are concerned about staining clothes with art paint.

You can also link together several smaller containers to make a music instrument with more than one drum. For example, you can use colorful tape to group together three or four small recyclable metal cans.

Some containers work best with some sort of drum stick. Use pencils, wooden spoons, or chopsticks for drum sticks. If the spoon is too loud, cover the striking end of the makeshift drum stick with fabric or wind yarn around the end. This will muffle the sound of the drum.

Making the Recyclable Music Drum

Let each child use the art materials to decorate his or her music drum. You may want to have music stickers and pictures of different types of drums available for each child to see.

Once the art paint and glue has dried, enjoy a fun time of marching around the room with your new music drum!