Homemade Maracas

7-10 year olds | two hours

Shake around your very own maracas made from something you’d otherwise have to throw away—old light bulbs. Parent supervision is required because of the breakable nature of this project’s process.

What You'll Need

• old lightbulb
• decoupage
• newspaper
• tissue paper
• flour
• salt

Instructions

1. Mix one part flour with two parts water and a tablespoon of salt in a bowl.
2. Tear newspaper into pieces, dip into mixture, and layer on top of light bulb. Make sure the bulb is thoroughly coated twice over.
3. Let the bulbs dry. To speed dry, blow with hair dryer.
4. When papered bulb is almost dry, hit the bulb hard on the underside of a tabletop to break glass inside. This step needs to be supervised by an adult.
5. Create another layer of newsprint to ensure no glass or soft spots remain.
6. Dry this last layer completely.
7. Tear up bits of coloured tissue paper to your liking.
8. Decoupage on top of the maraca. Let dry and play.

Tags: decoupage, music