Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Do Re Mi With Straws
Check out this fun science fair project about the physics of musical sound production. Here you will make musical instruments with drinking straws, one for each note on a one-octave major scale. You will figure out the right lengths for...
Other
The Mudcat Cafe: Make Your Own Drums
Hands-on-activity for making music. Find out how to make your own drums at this website. Explore and have fun with music.
Other
Homemade Instruments
Do you want to make an egg shaker? Come to this website and find out how. Homemade instruments can be made from different household items. Don't miss out on all of the music that can be made at home or school.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: Scoring Music: Write for Specific Instruments
If you are interested in arranging your own music, you should check out the tips offered at this website. Including a history of how music was arranged, this site also gives several good ideas of how to make your arrangements interesting.
Family Education
Family Education: Music Making Activities
Bring music-making activities home or to school. Check out how to guess instruments by their sounds and learn how to make a rain stick at this resource. It gives great directions on what you'll need and what to do.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Strum Along
Music and sound are two different concepts that share much in common. Determining the difference between the two can sometimes be difficult due to the subjective nature of deciding what is or is not music. The goal of this activity is to...
Other
Yamaha Music Pal: Flute Factory Tour
Take an online tour through the process of designing and manufacturing a flute. Helpful drawings and animations demonstrate the precision engineering that goes into the making of these musical instruments. (To access the Japanese version...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Chinese Instruments
Help your young scholars identify and classify Western instruments and traditional Chinese instruments.
ABCya
Ab Cya: Marvin Makes Music Storybook
ABCya! presents its fifth children's storybook for the classroom. It's called Marvin Makes Music, an original work by Michelle Tocci. The story is about a frog that is sad because he cannot sing like his friends, until one day when he...
BBC
Bbc Schools: Gcse Bitesize: Music: Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East
A diverse range of musical styles can be found around the world. Music from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East all have their own unique musical features and instruments. One of the most influential types of music-making in...
Curated OER
Eternal Egypt: Musical Instrument
This wooden musical instrument is in two parts. The main part is a kind of long curved stick to which strings might be attached. The second element of the instrument is a rounded wooden bow, that was used to make music on the strings.
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Egypt: What Is Pitch of Sound?
Ali really loves to make music. Help make Ali's dream come true. Together, answer questions about musical instruments.
Bill Nye
Bill Nye: Tube Kazoo
This tutorial from Bill Nye explains how to make a kazoo out of a cardboard tube.
Other
The Mudcat Cafe: Gourd Rattlers
What is a calabash? Use this website and find out what it is but also how to make it. This gourd rattler can be constructed with the easy to follow directions.
Other
The Mudcat Cafe: Blocks, Bells, Box Drums and Mallets
Have you ever wondered how to make homemade musical instruments? Use this site to find out how to construct sandpaper blocks and mallets.
Text Project
Text Project: Fyi for Kids: Horns: The Sound of the Wind [Pdf]
This FYI for Kids (Volume 2, Issue 7) article is about horn musical instruments. It explains how they work, materials they have been made from, what they are used for, and even how students can make a simple one for themselves.
Staten Island Children's Museum
Staten Island Children's Museum: Music Camp at Home
Enjoy doing these outdoor activities with your family such as making a Guiro or kazoo, or learning how to play the flute.
Michigan Reach Out
Michigan Reach Out!: Making a Shoe Box Guitar
This site provides an experiment where students create a guitar to discover what variables will change sound.
PBS
Pbs: Rough Science
Website companion to PBS show, "Rough Science," in which five scientists use their collective expertise to complete a series of tasks. Follow the scientists as they do things like generate electricity, make soap, make antibacterial...
Other
Creative Kids at Home: Water Chimes
Learn to make your own water chimes with the instructions included on this website. Kids will enjoy making their own music with this easily made instrument.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Snare Drum
Use this resource to learn about the percussion family of instruments, especially the snare drum. Find out how it helps the orchestra make music. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the snare drum by itself and with the...
Maryland Science Center
Maryland Science Center: Diy Kazoo [Pdf]
Instructions for how to make a kazoo. Also explains how the vibrations from humming create the sound.
Other
Rhythm Web: Coffee Can Drums
Learn how to make a percussion instrument using a coffee can. This site provides instructions for making the coffee can drum. You can also listen to audio clips of coffee can drums being played in various ways.
Other
Dayton Art Institute an African Slit Gong
Art and music are very much related. In fact, the African culture often times designed fun looking instruments like the gong on this website. Includes directions on how to make your own gong.