Feel the Rhythm

Submitted by
Anelia

Tired of having your expensive pots and pans turned into a drum set? Have your child make her own set of rhythm blocks! All it takes is a visit to Home Depot and a spot of glue, and she'll be scratching out her own little tunes (on her own little instrument) in no time.

Two small wooden blocks: You can recycle two of your child's infant block toys or stop by the hardware store and ask them to cut you two wooden blocks about four inches long by one inch thick.
Sandpaper: Pick up different grits of sandpaper (course, medium, fine) to make different scratching sounds.
Wood Glue
Scissors
Paint

Hit the hardware store for supplies.
Have your child trace the front and back of each block onto your big piece of sandpaper.
If you're blocks are plain, have your child paint the blocks in his favorite color and let them dry.
Meanwhile, help your child cut out his block tracings on the sandpaper.
Glue a piece of the sandpaper onto one side of each block. Experiment with different grains of paper to find a sound your kid likes or glue a different grain to each side of the blocks for variety.
Let the rhythm blocks dry.
When the blocks are finished, make some music with your child! Put on some music and scrape or rub the sandpaper side of the blocks together to create some cool, scratchy beats!
Try mixing a fine grain paper with a rough one. Or rub together two medium grain papers and then two fine grain blocks and listen to the difference. You can take turns closing your eyes and guessing what grain paper the other person is playing!