Spending more time indoors means more reading, more craft, more DIY activities. Children are always drawn towards rhythm and sound. It is fun to explore different sounds at various pitches from a variety of instruments. So why not make our own musical instruments at home !

1. Hand drum
Take a strip of cardboard and punch three holes in it. Then roll it into a circle to make a ring. This is the side of the drum. Hang a few beads with a string into two punched holes. Now paste two circlular cardboards onto the ring. Decorate the drum with colourful paper. Fix pencil inside one hole to make the handle.

2. Paper Plate Tambourine
Who doesn’t like to shake to the sound of tambourine ! All you need to make your own tambourine is paper plate, wool or string and some jingle bells. Just punch some holes into the paper plate and weave the jingle bells around the rim of the plate.

3. Matchbox guitar
This is a supereasy sensory activity. All you need to do is paste a small stick standing on one side on a match box. Open the match box and wind different thickness rubber bands around it.

4. Water Xylophone
You just need a few glasses filled with water and a stick for this activity. Fill the glasses with water with different water levels. Let your child explore how the sound changes through these glasses. This is the basis of the instrument Jal Tarang. You can make this activity even more fun by adding rainbow colours to the glasses.

5. Maracas
This is my kids favourite musical instrument and easy to make too. Take a toilet paper roll and seal one end with a thick paper. You can put some rice/beans/grains for sound. Close the other end also using duct tape. Decorate the roll with colourful paper. Your homemade maracas is ready.