We had our Music Makers playgroup yesterday. At the last minute, I had the brilliant idea to make egg shakers to go along with our book and craft.
Supplies for Egg Shakers:
- Easter eggs
- Beans
- Super glue
- (Duct tape)
I filled an egg with beans, spread the super glue around the bottom piece’s edge, then snapped the top on. I let them dry for about an hour and did a test run with the girls. When dropped, a few of the eggs opened. So we pulled out the duct tape and taped them up. I checked the super glue I chose and it said the liquid kind is the best for plastics and I had the no drip gel, which was okay. I’m guessing it had a long set up time. 10 kids played with them and none of them opened up so the gel super glue/duct tape combo worked for us! I’d recommend using an epoxy or liquid super glue to secure the egg pieces together.
We practiced shaking them high and low, fast and slow, loud and soft. We also practiced starting and stopping. Then we rocked out to Mahna Mahna by Cake from For the Kids. The shakers were a big hit and a super easy, fast instrument to make. So, after Easter when all your plastic eggs are hanging around, you can turn them into a musical instrument to enjoy the rest of the year!
Book:
I showcased this book last Friday, but I’ll mention it again since it inspired the craft and instrument. We read Clifford’s Happy Easter. It’s a fun book about dying eggs and an egg hunt. It doesn’t go into any reasons for celebrating Easter which is okay with me because I’m kind of picky about the religious books we read. It had silly illustrations that got a laugh out of the kids. It would be a great companion to any egg activities you may do.
Craft:
We decorated our own eggs. I set out a bunch of supplies and let the little ones choose how they wanted to decorate their eggs. We had leftover cut paper from Valentine’s cards, zigzag ribbon, jewel stickers, tissue paper squares, crayons, markers, and buttons (Sammi’s favorite!) The kids had a great time gluing everything on. The older ones enjoyed cutting their eggs out after they were finished. I downloaded the egg image here, but they also have larger versions (1 or 2 to a page. I did 4)
What alternative uses for Easter eggs have you found?
5 Responses to “Make an Instrument: Egg shakers”
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This sounds like a fun day! I keep meaning to make egg shakers, I should grab some plastic easter eggs while they’re in all the stores…
A friend of mine made egg shakers as gifts for an Easter party she held last year. C’s are in her music box and she still pulls them out all the time! We also keep a couple in our play kitchen. She especially likes the green one (because of Green Eggs and Ham!).
the shakers were such a good idea! sounds like you guys had a great time
We need to make some noise. Check out some low-price egg shakers at west music please!
Great instructions on making shaker eggs! I bought large plastic Easter eggs at a dollar store–a pack of 6 for $1. (I like the large size for babies & toddlers.) I filled them with a variety of things–macaroni, lentils, rice, kidney beans, popcorn (unpopped), navy beans, and spit peas. (You get different sounds this way.) Finally, I glued them together using Loctite Plastic Epoxy. I have never had good luck gluing plastics with any kind of super glue. This epoxy worked really well! I could only do 3 eggs at a time before having to mix more glue because the epoxy dries quickly. The results were well worth having to repeatedly mix small amounts of glue, though. I applied the glue with a wooden coffee stir stick and wiped excess off immediately after closing the egg. Takes only 5 minutes for the glue to set! I did let them set for an hour or more while doing other things. I then easily wiped off any stray glue bits of glue with paint thinner/mineral spirits. I didn’t need to use duct tape (though I liked that idea) because the glue worked so well.