52 Homemade Musical Instruments You Can Make [Child Friendly]

Looking for a fun arts and crafts project to take on with your child? Then why not try your hand at homemade musical instruments?

Know it or not, there are a ton of DIY craft ideas for you to explore, and many of them can be created using ordinary household objects like cardboard, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, Popsicle sticks, paper plates, paper cups, rubber bands, and more.

In this guide, we look at dozens of homemade musical instrument ideas for you to explore and make.

Beginner Friendly Homemade Musical Instruments

Most DIY instruments found in this guide are beginner friendly and are appropriate for ages three and above.

Later, however, we will be looking at some homemade musical instrument projects that would only be good choices for teens and above. In some rare cases, a younger child could attempt them, but only with adult supervision.

Either way, we strongly recommend parental supervision and guidance, and in some cases, parental assistance with every DIY project. These are supposed to be fun! There’s no need for anyone to get hurt or to risk injury. Take it slow, take it methodically, and you should do alright.

With that, let’s look at a selection of fun child friendly arts and crafts projects.

Cardboard Ukulele

See the guide: Instructables

The ukulele is a tropical island favorite. But in more recent years, it’s been adopted by female singer-songwriters, Twenty One Pilots, Jason Mraz, and many others. Its popularity is exploding.

A cardboard ukulele isn’t too hard to make. It may take a bit of patience, but all you need to get started is a healthy supply of cardboard, yarn, push pins or tacks, glue, a ruler, and scissors to begin building your own. Optionally, you can incorporate paint, paint sealant, and a marker into your workflow.

If you wish, you could even track down a real ukulele so you could trace it and make your cardboard uke the exact size of a real uke. If you follow along with the guide linked, you’ll end up with a surprisingly realistic looking ukulele!

Mini Lid Banjo

See the guide: The Craft Train

The Mini Lid Banjo could be a cute addition to your child’s instrument collection. The banjo is especially popular in bluegrass, country, folk, and traditional music, but of course it can sound fantastic in other genres as well.

You’re not about to procure a snare drum and all the metal and wood needed to make a real banjo, though, so don’t worry.

To make a mini lid banjo, you’ll want to prepare a jar lid, jumbo craft sticks, washi tape, duct tape, craft glue, and loom bands (four). Follow along in the guide linked.

Cardboard Guitar

See the guide: PBS KIDS for Parents

The guitar might seem like one of the most challenging of instruments to create. If you were to start completely from scratch, design, cut, assemble, sand, and finish, you’d certainly be in for a ride. But fortunately, there are much simpler options for you and your child.

The PBS site shows you step by step how to make your own cardboard guitar out of a cardboard box, cardboard tube, rubber bands, duct tape, and a pair of scissors.

The guitar itself isn’t going to sound like much, but at least it’s fun to make and fun to play!

Tissue Box Guitar

See the guide: Super Simple

There isn’t just one way to make a homemade guitar. There are many ways of going about it. As one of the most enduring instruments in all types of rock, blues, country, and more, there’s no denying that there’s a certain magnetism to the instrument.

As it turns out, tissue boxes make for great homemade guitar bodies. Also find a cardboard paper towel tube, rubber bands, four Popsicle sticks, scissors, craft knife, glue stick, paint, and a paintbrush, and you’ll be off to the races with this nifty little guitar your child won’t be able to get enough of.

Box Violin

See the guide: Violinist.com

It may seem like a novel idea, but many violin students start out learning on what is in effect a box / cardboard violin. And this DIY project shows you exactly how you can put together a relatively impressive looking box violin with a minimal investment.

To make your own box violin, prepare a macaroni box, grocery bag or wrapping paper, scissors, ruler or paint stick, packing tape, glue, and crayons. The guide linked above also has a convenient violin cutout you can use to get your finished product looking just like a real violin.

Toilet Roll Shaker

See the guide: The Craft Train

When it comes to homemade musical instruments, one of the most common you’ll find is shakers. All you really need to make one is a container that can hold grains or beans (or a mixture) and can seal shut. Once everything is neatly contained, simply shake it to a beat for a versatile percussive instrument.

People have gotten creative over the years… very creative. You can create your own shaker using a toilet roll, two bottle caps, rattle (dried beans, rice, or coffee beans), and Sharpie markers. Paints are optional but customizing the look of your instrument is always fun and kids love it!

Cardboard Tube Shaker

See the guide: The Craft Train

If you can make a shaker out of toilet rolls, it shouldn’t come as any surprise you could make shakers out of cardboard tubes too, right?

Plus, the materials required are almost the same. You’ll need paper towel rolls, milk bottle caps, duct tape, washi tape (for decoration), rice or dried beans, scissors, and washable kids markers.

Note that you can even make shakers out of Pringles and tennis ball cans.

Pasta Shaker

See the guide: Platein28

The idea here isn’t anything revolutionary. It’s almost the same as a toilet roll shaker, except you’ll be filling the homemade shaker with pasta instead of rice or beans (nice alternative!).

All you need for this creation are toilet paper rolls, tape, markers, tissue paper, glue, and pasta (dried, obviously!).

I wonder if the pasta will have a different sound than beans or rice? Let us know how it goes!

Bottle Cap Shaker

See the guide: The Craft Train

Here’s a simple entry you can pull off in about five minutes of extra time. So, if you want a craft, you can put together quickly, try the Bottle Cap Shaker.

To make a bottle cap shaker, you’ll need to prepare plastic milk bottle caps, small plastic beads, scissors, and duct tape. That’s it! Find the exact steps in the guide linked.

Paper Cup Shaker

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

You know what else you can use to make shakers? Paper cups!

All you need to make one of these delightful noisemakers is two small paper cups, crepe paper, a paintbrush, acrylic paint, scissors, masking tape, glue stick, glue gun, and something to make noise with (jingle bells, coins, rice, or beans – take your pick!).

Salt Shaker Noise Maker

See the guide: KiwiCo

This is basically a shaker, except that it utilizes a saltshaker. The Salt Shaker Noise Maker should prove a fun project for children aged three to six, and it should take less than 30 minutes. User beware, though, because this can be a messy ordeal.

To make your own noise maker, prepare an empty salt container, dried beans, rice, or popcorn kernels, tape, scrapbook paper, glue, ribbon, and optionally, markers.

Easter Egg Maracas

See the guide: Michigan Medicine

Shakers and maracas of all types are easy to make and are endless fun for your youngsters!

The process for creating Easter egg maracas is very straightforward, and it may well be one of the easiest instruments to make, at least in this guide.

Simply prepare Easter eggs, plastic spoons, rice, and painter’s tape, and follow along with the guide linked…

Water Bottle Maracas

See the guide: Today’s Parent

Water bottles also make for great containers. Who knew?

Water bottle maracas can be made with water bottles, buttons, hot glue, a toilet roll, and washi tape.

For hot glue use, be sure there’s parental assistance and / or supervision available! We don’t want anyone burning themselves.

Festive Maracas

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

As you’ve surely noticed, there are many variations on maracas as well. These specifically are colorful and festive in appearance.

To make one, procure two small ice cream cups or yogurt cups (save the lids), two Popsicle sticks or craft sticks, white acrylic paint, poster paint, paintbrushes, box cutter or craft knife, a glue gun, and rice or beans.

DIY Rain Stick

See the guide: Gift of Curiosity

What’s required to make a rain stick isn’t all that different from a shaker or maracas. Simply prepare a paper towel roll, rice, aluminum foil, tape, a wooden spoon, broom handle, colored paper, and optionally, a funnel for this fun project.

Once created, simply hold at an angle, and let the rice gently trickle down the container. You’ll be amazed at the realistic sounding effect!

DIY Didgeridoo

See the guide: KiwiCo

A traditional Australian instrument, the didgeridoo produces an unforgettable, mesmerizing, and hypnotizing sound. A DIY Didgeridoo probably isn’t going to sound anywhere near as good, but it’s still a very engaging project for your child to take on.

Expect this project to take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Ages three to eight (and above) are invited to try, and the project may produce a slight mess.

You’ll only need three materials to make your very own DIY didgeridoo – mailing tubes, acrylic paint, and paintbrushes!

Balloon Drum

See the guide: wikiHow

Percussive instruments are among the easiest to make, especially when we’re talking homemade / DIY projects. The drum is no exception. We’ll be looking at a few different ways to make a drum, but the first utilizes a balloon in a bit of an unorthodox way.

To make a balloon drum, you will need an old flower / plant pot (around 12”), a large, tight balloon (around 24”), and scissors. Essentially, the way it works is the balloon is to be placed over the top of the pot and held tightly in place.

You can use pencils, small wooden dowels, or chopsticks as sticks / mallets for the drum.

Coffee Tin Drum

See the guide: wikiHow

Another household object that can make for a great drum is a coffee tin (don’t throw out the lid, because you’ll need it!). To doctor it up as a custom drum, you’ll also need construction paper, craft glue, a ruler, scissors, fabric, a hot glue gun, and additional decorations.

This one can be a little more advanced, with the use of a hot glue gun, so be sure to help your child if you plan to have them make this fun little DIY instrument.

How does it all work? Check out Method 2 in the guide above…

Plastic Flowerpot African Drum (Dumbek)

See the guide: wikiHow

This one is a little more advanced, but the result is worth the effort.

For this entry, you’ll need a plastic flower post, cardboard carpet tube, beach ball (or any flexible, thick plastic material), ruler, scissors, utility knife, embroidery hoop, packing tape, and optionally, decorative material.

There are more steps to creating the dumbek than most other homemade drums, so be sure to assist your child in its creation!

Djembe Drum (African Drum)

See the guide: National Geographic Kids

The djembe obviously originated as an African drum, but in recent decades it has gained a lot of traction with singer-songwriters (as accompaniment), and of course it’s a go-to favorite for drum circles as well.

To make your own djembe, you’ll need two paper cups, old newspaper, flour, water, a balloon, a rubber band, a mixing bowl, string, PVA glue, sticky tape, and a paintbrush.

You can create a very professional looking drum by following the steps outlined in the guide linked.

Ice Cream Tub Drum

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

An ice cream tub makes for another excellent percussive instrument with a bit of doctoring.

Find yourself an ice cream tub, two metal shank buttons, two drinking straws, two pipe cleaners, a paintbrush, acrylic paint, string or ribbon, scissors, a glue gun, and a hole punch, and you’ll be off to the races.

DIY Packing Tape Drum Set

See the guide: hello, Wonderful

Creating a simple drum set is as simple as packing tape! Who knew?

All you need to do to get to work on this beauty is a coffee can, tin can, and packing tape. The tape acts as the drum head, and you’d be amazed how well it works. You will also need to prepare a can opener, wood skewers, duct tape, and masking tape.

Duct Tape Drums

See the guide: KiwiCo

Here’s a simple drum project that should take less than 30 minutes to make. It’s appropriate for ages three to five, but grownup supervision is essential. The project can result in a small mess.

To make your very own duct tape drum, you’ll need to ready the following materials – scissors, duct tape sheets, and cans and containers of various sizes.

Spin Drum

See the guide: KiwiCo

Fans of The Karate Kid II will probably remember well the significance of the spin drum in the series lore.

Kids love making noise, and this fun little project gives your kids a new way to produce percussive sounds.

Simply prepare a paper mache box, wooden dowel, hole punch, string, beads, glue, and markers to make your own.

Finger Cymbals

See the guide: KiwiCo

This is the perfect project for children aged three to eight, but it can take up to two hours to create. It can be a little messy too. So, either do it in spurts or take on the project when your child is ready and patient.

Finger cymbals require paper plates, clothespins, a ruler, paintbrush, scissors, glue, paint, and bottle caps.

The result is a bit like metal castanets!

DIY Castanets

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

This is basically a variation on the finger cymbals.

To make DIY Castanets, you’ll need thick cardboard or a small paper plate, scissors, a glue gun, hole punch or pencil, permanent markers, buttons, coins, or metal washers, and an elastic band or ribbon.

The guide linked is especially fun, as it shows you how to make Angry Bird castanets!

Paper Plate Cymbals

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

Drums are a lot of fun. But what are drums without cymbals?

Homemade cymbals are possible, and they can also be a lot of fun to make.

For this project, prepare two paper plates, coins or metal washers, gold poster paint or acrylic paint, gold ribbon or pipe cleaners, a glue gun, paintbrush, and a pencil.

This project is slightly more advanced, so we do recommend parental supervision and or assistance with it. And don’t forget – your house is about to get a lot noisier with the addition of cymbals!

Pie Tin Cymbals

See the guide: KiwiCo

Here’s another great option for creating cymbals – pie tins! The project is appropriate for children aged three to eight, and it will likely take about 30 minutes to an hour to make. Adult supervision is required, and you should expect it to be messy too.

Prepare a foil pie tin, duct tape, chopsticks, tacky glue, and pom-poms for this inventive creation.

Paper Plate Tambourine

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

The tambourine is yet another fun percussive instrument to introduce into your home (well, depending on its volume, outside might be better).

The paper plate tambourine might be a little more complicated than some of the other homemade instruments we’ve looked at so far, but altogether, it’s not too bad. Very doable with some patience and planning.

Prepare two small paper plates, pipe cleaners or twist ties, five jingle bells, white glue, a hole punch, tempera or poster paint, and any materials you’d like to decorate your tambourine with.

Cardboard Tambourine

See the guide: The Kids’ Craft Site

This entry is a slight variation on the DIY paper plate tambourine we’ve already looked at.

To make a cardboard tambourine, you’ll require cardboard, two bowls, yarn, jingle bells, scissors and a pen or pencil.

DIY Jingle Bells

See the guide: KinderArt

If you can make your own tambourine, well, it only stands to reason you’d be able to make your own jingle bells too, right?

Perfect for the holiday season, all you need to make your own jingle bells are small jingle bells, pipe cleaners, sticks or pencils, and other found objects (refer to guide for more details).

You can follow this process to make bracelets, necklaces, jingle sticks, and more.

Paper Cup Bell

See the guide: FirstPalette.com

Here’s another very simple but effective idea, perfect for the holiday season.

To make a paper cup bell, all you need is a paper cup, jingle bell, pipe cleaner, big bead, satin ribbon, poster or acrylic paint, paintbrush, glitter, and scissors. This project is perfect for youngsters and beginners.

DIY Cardboard Xylophone

See the guide: The Inspired Treehouse

The xylophone might seem like a complicated instrument to make, but a simple replica is well within reach if you don’t over-complicate the process.

All you need to get started with a DIY Cardboard Xylophone are cardboard tubes of various sizes, rubber bands, and a ribbon, yarn, or embroidery floss.

Check out the guide to see how it all works.

Rainbow Xylophone

See the guide: Hyperlexia Resources

Cardboard xylophones are kind of neat… but a rainbow xylophone? Well, that seems like a lot more fun!

This project will require a little more work than the alternative, but that is to be expected.

For this entry, you’ll need window casings, a saw, scrap wood, acrylic paint, a nail gun, and Mod Podge.

This probably wouldn’t be a great project for any child under 14 (and even then, they should be supervised), so user beware (note the use of a saw and a nail gun).

Toilet Roll Kazoo

See the guide: Today’s Parent

With its fun, goofy sound, the kazoo is a childhood favorite! And as it turns out, it’s not that hard to make, either.

To make a toilet roll kazoo, all you need is a toilet roll, pinking shears or safety scissors, elastic band, wax paper, a bowl (for tracing), marker or pen, and non-toxic paints.

This DIY instrument produces a lot of noise, so take it outside if need be.

Cardboard Tube Kazoo

See the guide: KiwiCo

Here’s a neat little variation on the kazoo. Children aged three to eight should have a lot of fun with this slightly messy project that should only take less than 30 minutes.

To make the Cardboard Tube Kazoo, you’ll need wax paper, toilet paper tubes, rubber bands, a pen, markers, crayons, and stickers.

This is a fun DIY homemade instrument to experiment with. Once complete, try playing it in a variety of different ways to see what sounds best!

Straw Oboe

See the guide: Instructables

Here’s another simple but fun entry into homemade instruments. You only require a few simple materials to bring to fruition your very own Straw Oboe – a paper cone cup, a drinking straw, scissors, masking tape, and a pencil.

Once created, apparently, you may need to work on your technique for it to sound good, but once you get the hang of it, you should be able to do it on command.

DIY Soda Bottle Trumpet

See the guide: Making Music Fun

The trumpet is a powerful, resonant, melodic instrument. So, the very thought of crafting a DIY trumpet is a very exciting one.

All you need to make a DIY trumpet is a two-liter soda pop bottle, construction paper, a paper towel roll, masking tape, and a kitchen knife.

The guide linked even shows you a more advanced version if it’s something you’re interested in. For this, you’ll require a 7C Bb trumpet mouthpiece, a funnel, and four feet of plastic tubing.

Popsicle Stick Kalimba

See the guide: BINGOBONGO

The Kalimba is a simple, magical, and gratifying instrument just about anyone can learn to play. And there are options for DIY crafting too.

To make your very own kalimba (or thumb piano), prepare two paper bowls, plates, or a wood box, Popsicle sticks, wood glue, two pieces of wood (for the bridge), scissors, and decorating supplies like markers, crayons, and so forth.

Paper Clarinet

See the guide: eHow

Did you know you could make a DIY clarinet out of paper? I sure didn’t!

All you need to get started on this project is a wrapping paper tube, a pen knife, masking tape, a paintbrush, and acrylic paint.

Straw Whistle

See the guide: Craftsuprint

All you need to make a straw whistle is a simple drinking straw. Simply cut one end of the straw, make two or three holes in the straw whistle, and you’re done. Test out the straw whistle and adjust as necessary.

Popsicle Stick Harmonica

See the guide: Michigan Medicine

Upon first brush, it may not look like much, but the Popsicle harmonica is in fact a very fun project and instrument to explore.

All you need to make it are two Popsicle sticks / craft sticks, a plastic straw, a wide rubber band, and two smaller rubber bands.

Straw Pan Flute

See the guide: Buggy and Buddy

It might seem like a basic project, but straw pan flutes can come out looking amazing. They do require fine motor skills and math, but for the most part they are quite easy to create.

To make your own straw pan flute, you’ll want to prepare cardstock, plastic straws, scissors, double-sided tape, a black Sharpie, a ruler, and optionally Model Magic, markers or crayons, and a pencil.

Advanced DIY Projects

The following projects may involve the use of hot glue, hammers, drills, wood, saws, and more to achieve! These could be fun projects for your young shop class rockstar, but as they do involve a little more work and the use of potentially dangerous tools, they are not recommended for children under 12.

These DIY projects, however, could be a lot of fun for you and your teen to work on, so if you’re looking for something a little more challenging, try these.

Cardboard Piano (Complicated But Fun)

See the guide: Instructables

Ever thought about making a cardboard piano? Well, this project isn’t exactly the easiest in this guide, but it’s just so cool, we couldn’t resist highlighting it (and it is possible to build from pre-made materials – you won’t have to fashion a computer chip from scratch or anything like that!).

You’ll need cardboard, aluminum foil, a plastic slide binder, jumper wires, an Arduino Uno board, a computer, glue, hot glue, electrical tape, a polystyrene cutter, ruler, and pencil or pen for marking purposes.

If you’d like to see how it’s all done, simply click on the link to the guide.

The finished product seems to have some latency, but if that doesn’t bother you too much, it’s quite the fascinating invention.

PVC Pipe Organ

See the guide: Instructables

The PVC Pipe Organ is a neat looking piece of kit. The process to creating one basically involves making multiple tuned flutes and an instrument body. Of course, you’ll be connecting the keys to the pipes as well.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to expand on this concept if you have the time, drive, and passion necessary for such an endeavor. The sky is the only limit.

To make your own PVC Pipe Organ, you will require PVC pipe, PVC end caps, wooden dowel, surgical tubing, wooden clothes pins, sheets of wood, a drill, a screwdriver, screws, hot glue, an orbital sander, and optionally, a dermal, and a scroll (or jigsaw).

Wooden Ocarina

See the guide: Instructables

Fans of The Legend of Zelda will remember well the haunting beauty of the ocarina and may even one day set out to create their very own. If your child loves video games, then there’s a good chance they’d be interested in this DIY project.

This project is certainly a sophisticated one but with the right tools and a lot of patience, a teen could tackle this (with parental supervision, of course).

For the ocarina, you’ll need a jigsaw, power drill and drill bit set, disk and belt sander, wood carving gouge, mitre saw, wood glue, Dremel, a chromatic tuner, and of course a healthy supply of oak wood.

PVC Flute

See the guide: DIY Instructions

It’s amazing how you can create just about whatever you want out of PVC, and the flute is yet another project it empowers us to tackle.

To make a PVC Flute, you’ll need PVC pipe, PVC end cap, a drill, and a tape measure.

For exact details, be sure to check the guide.

Homemade Bass Guitar

See the guide: Instructables

This project is a little more involved. But you will end up with a rather remarkable DIY bass if you follow the steps outlined in the guide linked.

You’ll need a water jug, 37” white wood, bass guitar strings, screws, hammer, jigsaw, a power drill, and sandpaper.

This project would be a fun one to try for teens. Of course, as with all projects, adult assistance / supervision is strongly recommended.

DIY Kick Drum

See the guide: Instructables

Creating a new kick drum / bass drum might be easier than you think! The main thing it requires is a large water jug, which are easy to obtain cost efficiently.

Copper Pipe Glockenspiel

See the guide: Instructables

Have you got some extra copper pipe laying around? In that case, you may want to consider making your own Copper Pipe Glockenspiel!

To make it, you’ll need copper pipe, wood, nails, tubing, a drill and drill bit, rubber bands, calculator, pipe cutters, flat file, and an app that calculates frequencies. Optionally, you’ll want to prepare wood glue and paint as well.

It is a sophisticated project to be sure, but not impossible for kids to tackle. Just be sure you’re keeping an eye on them always.

Kalimba

See the guide: Instructables

All things considered, the kalimba (or thumb piano) is a relatively easy instrument to create. In this guide, you can learn exactly how to make your first, fully fledged kalimba.

To make it, you’ll need thin plywood, wooden board, hardwood, varnish, brass rod stock, spring steel strip, screws and threaded inserts, as well as other miscellaneous materials and tools – tube, boards, mounting hardware, glue, and so on.

In terms of tools, you’ll require a lathe, bandsaw (alternatively, hand saws), a cooking pot, a drill, hand or drill press, masking tape, glue clamps, belt and disc sander (alternatively, sandpaper and files), laser cutter, milling machine, paintbrushes, and a guitar tuner.

PVC Saxophone (Fun Project For Teens)

See the guide: Instructables

Here’s another project that might fall under the category of “advanced,” but it’s well worth a look if your child is a little more advanced.

This is not an expensive project by any means, and it should only take about 30 to 40 minutes to make.

In terms of materials, you’ll need PVC, four PVC elbow joints, a plastic funnel, firm plastic, and heavy-duty tape.

Also prepare a hacksaw, scissors, a file, drill, and hot glue gun.

Don’t forget – this project is probably only appropriate for a teen, and you should still be assisting / supervising the entire thing!

How To Make Homemade Musical Instruments, Final Thoughts

With so many projects to choose from, which one interests you most? What are you excited to tackle with your child? Did you like the weird instruments?

No matter what you end up selecting, you’re sure to have a great time crafting, and even if the finished product doesn’t turn out how you hoped, you can always learn from the experience and try again.

So, try one, try many, try all. It’s all worthwhile for your child’s development, and even for your own!