Oh, Brother!

The next time you listen to your favorite music with your friends, kick up the sound and liven up the beat with a bean tambourine you can make yourselves, using things you might already have at home.

Here’s the stuff you’ll need to shake, rattle, and roll:
• 2 sturdy, heavy-duty paper dinner plates with rims
• Markers
• Craft supplies, such as crayons, stickers, feathers, and glue stick
• Paper clips, chip clips or clothespins
• Hole puncher
• Long shoelaces or strong ribbon
• Assorted uncooked beans and rice

Here’s the fun:

1. Set the two plates upside-down on a table. Use your imagination and decorate them with your favorite colors and designs.

2. Place the rims together with the decorations facing out, and hold the plates together using clips or clothespins. Punch out holes evenly through both, about a 1-inch apart along the rims.

3. With the clips still in place, grab a shoelace or ribbon and begin sewing up your tambourine. Thread the shoelace or ribbon in and out of the first two holes, leaving several inches dangling from the first hole. You may use a regular in-and-out style stitch or a whipstitch.

4. Remove clips as you go. When you have about three inches left, it’s time to add some noise to your tambourine! Drop a handful of dry beans and rice inside through the opening of the plates.

5. Finish sewing up your tambourine, make a tight knot, tie a bow, and let what’s left dangle. You might want to add a few beads and knot them in place on the dangling ends.

CRAFT TALK:
When you are ready to add “sound” to your tambourine in Step 4, experiment with different kinds of rice and beans. Describe the sounds they make. For example, lentils make a soft sound. White rice makes a light rainy sound, and kidney beans make a robust sound.