Fancy a bit of musical crafting? Let’s create some charming animal castanets! This fun and simple activity is perfect for children of all ages, allowing them to make their own percussion instruments using recycled materials. With just a few basic supplies and our easy-to-follow steps, you’ll be clicking and clacking to your own rhythm in no time. Get ready to transform ordinary bottle caps and paper into delightful musical companions!
- White paper
- Scissors
- Coloured card board sheets
- 6 Capsules (bottle caps)
- Strong glue
- Infinity colour pencils
- Coloured pencils
Make castanets to make music
Step 1
First, print out the template for your animal castanets. You can download the template from the provided link.
Step 2
Now, use felt-tip pens and coloured pencils to colour in the animal pictures (the tiger, frog, and cat). Try to make the colours nice and vibrant, so they stand out.
Step 3
Cut the printed sheet into three sections, separating each animal.
Stick each animal picture onto a piece of coloured card baord paper. Choose a colour that matches the animal’s main colour as closely as possible.
Step 4
Carefully cut out the two parts of each animal: the body and the head.
Step 5
Fold the animal’s body in half.
Fold the animal’s head along the dotted lines, and then glue it onto the top of the folded body. You should now see the castanet shape forming.
Step 6
To make the clicking sound, you’ll need to glue two bottle caps (or “capsules”) to the inside ends of the animal’s body. Use a glue gun for this.
Important: Adult supervision is required when using a glue gun.
Step 7
And there you have it, your castanet is finished! To make it click, simply pinch the animal’s body between your fingers, then open and close your fingers quickly.
Step 8
Create multiple castanets and make music with your friends!
