Nov 21 - Monster Castanets

I made castanets today! Again, as when I made the guitar, I decided not to proceed with my initial cultural theme and decided instead to make a little castanet that looks like a monster! I used the instruction sheet I had made previously on making Latin American Castanets:

------------------------------------


Monster Castanets

Materials: plastic or metal bottle caps, sturdy cardboard cut into small rectangles, superglue, string

Instructions:
• Fold cardboard rectangles in half
• Attach 2 bottle caps to each end of rectangular cardboard with superglue so they line up when folded onto each other
• Attach loose string loops to act as finger loop holders

Difficulty: Easy
Timeframe: Short
To play: Insert index finger and thumb through top and bottom string loops. Clap bottle caps together to make a tapping or clicking noise.

--------------------------------------

I altered my original instructions slightly by using cardboard for the finger loop holders. I initially used tape to hold the bottle caps in place, but it wasn't secure enough so I used a hot glue gun instead. I also painted one of them to look like a little friendly monster with pipe cleaners for antennaes.

My castinets make a nice metal snappy sound that would be great to keep a rhythm or beat.

I like the idea of making them monster castinets to appeal to younger grades. With kindergartens or grade ones I would use monster castinets during a theme week on monsters. I could include the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak as it uses "cute" rather than "scary" monsters, which I feel would interest both girls and boys.