Looking for a fun and creative craft project to do with your kids? Look no further than making your very own musical rainstick! This hands-on activity is not only a great way to keep little ones entertained, but it also allows them to explore their creativity and imagination. By using simple household materials, you and your children can create a unique and personalized rain stick that produces calming sounds similar to a rainstorm.
We recently made a rainstick in our homeschool as part of our rainforest unit. We personally used Knowledge Crates to make crafts in our unit studies so much easier. This rainstick craft was in our 2023 Summer Preschool Knowledge Crate. By using Knowledge Crates for our unit studies, we were able to cover all the following subjects just by making a rainstick:
- Social Studies
- Art
- Music
- Gross Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
- Science
What Is A Rainstick?
A rainstick is a musical instrument that comes from Chile in South America. The Mapuche people who lived in Chile made rainsticks from caucus or bamboo. They used them to make music, for special ceremonies, and believed that the rainsticks sounded like real rain which they believed would help bring rain to their crops.
Materials Needed for Musical Rainstick
- Water Color Paints and paintbrush
- Rice
- Cardboard Tube (like a paper towel roll or toilet paper roll)
- Tissue paper or felt square (2 per rainstick)
- Rubber bands (2 per rainstick)
- Glue
- Things to decorate your rain stick (we used gems)
First up, we got a cardboard tube. We used a paper towel roll, but you can also use a wrapping paper tube or any similar-sized cylindrical tube. The length of the tube will determine the length of your rainstick, so choose one that is the right size for you.
Next, we used rice to fill our rainsticks with. You can use a variety of different materials like beans, small pasta, or even small pebbles. Each material will produce a different sound when the rain stick is turned over, so feel free to experiment with different materials to explore different sounds.
To seal off the ends of our rainstick, we used felt squares. You can also use study paper, cardboard, or a few layers of tissue paper. We glued our felt squares to the ends of our tube and then placed rubber bands around it as well to help secure it in place.
Decorating our rainsticks was my kids’ favorite part. We used watercolor paints and gems to decorate our rainsticks, but you can also use markers, stickers, or any other craft supplies you would like to use to personalize your rainstick.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making a Rain Stick
Step 1
We chose to paint our tubes first and set them aside to dry. This made our project take two days, but my kids love using paint, so it was a way for them to personalize their rainsticks. You can always choose to use markers, glue colored paper to the cardboard tube, wrap it with ribbon, or leave the tube as is. The choice is yours to personalize as you choose.
Step 2
Once the tube was dry, we glued felt to one end of our rainsticks and wrapped that with a tight rubber band as well to help it be more secure. We then proceeded to add about a handful of rice to each tube.
Step 3
Once we put the rice in the cardboard tubes, we sealed the ends of the tubes to prevent our rice from spilling out. We used cardboard and tape to secure the ends of our tubes.
Step 4
Embellish! We embellished our rainsticks with rainforest stickers and glued on colorful gems.
Making a rainstick is a simple yet rewarding craft project that can provide hours of entertainment for kids. Not only is it a fun way to express creativity, but it also encourages sensory exploration and fine motor skills development.
