Oct 27 - Making a Tambourine

In gathering materials to make a Marching Band Tambourine, I bought the plates from the dollar store, I used the leftover beans from the Mexican Maracas project, and I used the yarn and leftover aluminum tin from the Chinese Gong project.

I stapled 2 plastic plates together 3/4 way around, inserted beans, then stapled the remaining open area together. I punched holes on the edges around the plates. I then cut out small circles of varying sizes from the remaining aluminum pie tin. I poked holes in each of the aluminum circles, and in groups of 4 or 5, I tied them together and then attached them to one of the holes on the plates with yarn.

This project would have been a lot easier had I had a proper hole punch. I also wanted to use bells or a metal that could produce a nicer clanging-jangling sound, but didn't have any available to me at the time.

I was not happy with the outcome of my tambourine, and for this reason chose not to decorate it. I felt the noise was too harsh because of the plastic plates I had chosen to use, and the hard beans I chose. The jangling sound was barely audible over the loudness of the beans. If doing this again, I would choose to use paper plates, beans, and bells. I think this would create a much nicer sound.

Tambourines would be fun to use as part of the marching band activity we did as a class. The conductor could have a big hat and the marching stick, and perhaps the student at the end of the marching line could have a tambourine to keep the pace/beat as well as the accompanying music.