Rain Stick/Music Stick

This is part of our Earth Day activities at my house.  I first got the idea from this site The Imagination Tree.  It also has directions.  Since seeing this idea I have searched on my own how to make a rainmaker or rain stick and come across similar directions and other ways to decorate.  This is what we ended up doing to make our rain stick. We also made Indian headbands so we can go outside and do a rain dance in style.

Rain Stick/Music Stick

What you need:

a mail tube-we found ours at office max, nails, hammer, beans and noodles, hot glue gun, paper, yarn, and craft glue.  (you can decorate this how you want, just paper and color, paper and pc of paper or feathers or ribbon all over…  you choose)

What to do: 

Take mail tube and hammer nails into it.  Make sure the nails are small enough not to come out the other side of the tube.  Then hot glue the bottom plastic pc on.  We took dried beans and noodles and added them to the rain stick.

Shake at times to see if you like the sound while adding the beans and noodles.  We ran out of beans(I only had a small amount) and then added noodles.  We liked the sound better with the noodles added to it.  Then hot glue the other plastic pc on the tube.  We now took cardstock paper and glued it around the tube to cover the nails. 

Then take yarn and glue it to one end and wrap and glue as you go until it is covered.  I started with hot glue on the end and then switched to my craft glue(and then let my sweet husband take over and wrap it for our son:-)  This one is for my 3yr and we will make another one this week for my 1yr old.  When we started this project Sunday I was not sure how to decorate one for my 1yr because he loves to eat paper.  When I saw the yarn idea I knew that would be the best for us.  I am still not so sure he will not eat it but this way he wont be eating the paper off.  We will see how it goes.  His may be put up until he gets a little older and then we can get it back out.

Update the the second one is finished: