Play Group Craft: Rain Sticks!

Sometimes crafts at home are a hassle, here is an easy craft you can do, where most of the supplies are already right in your home!

What You'll need:

-Paper Towel Roll

-Construction Paper 

-Masking Tape (or other kind of tape)

-Scissors

-Sewing pins

-Rice (or popcorn kernels or beans)

**When you begin the craft, you can give your child/children a sheet of paper to draw on, which will later be put onto their rain stick. Encourage your child to draw something that has to do with RAIN, to go with the theme of the craft!**

Step 1: You first want to put a paper (it can be construction or cardstock--something that will be strong enough) on the end of the paper towel roll and tape it on. 

**TIP: If it is a thinner paper, it might be good to put a layer of duct tape over the top so that it doesn't rip or get a hole.**

Step 2: Insert the sewing pins into the roll, about a centimeter apart.

**TIP: It was easier for me to poke the pins into the crease of the roll, but if you were to poke them in all over the roll, it may create a different/better sound--something worth trying!!**

When you are done, the inside of the roll should look something like this:

Step 3: This is when your child can get involved! Pour (about an 1/8 c) the rice, popcorn kernels, or beans (or a mixture of all three!) into the roll. Tape up the other end of the roll, just like in STEP 1.

**TIP: I liked the sound the popcorn kernels the best, and mixing it with the rice gives the sound variety too!**

Step 4: Now that the rain stick is complete, roll your child's drawing onto the stick (to avoid the exposure of the pins). You can do this with glue, double sided tape, or just regular tape. If you don't want to put paper over it, be sure to put tape over the top of the pins, so that the pins don't fall out!

Turn it up and down to get the sound of rain falling and hitting things! It can also be used as a fun little instrument! This is very easy to do, and your children will love it! 

Enjoy!!