There's nothing like a rattle to excite budding young percussionists – although babies tend to tire of these toys faster than we'd like. Shake things up by making homemade maracas to create new and different sounds.
Appropriate for:
6 to 15 months
Skills developed:
Fine motor, sense of rhythm
What you'll need:
Small containers such as one-serving plastic containers with tightly fitting lids, empty yogurt cups, or half-pint milk cartons; fillers such as dried rice, macaroni, or beans; strong packing or duct tape
Empty yogurt cups and small plastic containers make perfect shakers for small hands. If your baby is past the stage of putting everything in his mouth, cardboard toilet paper tubes with the ends taped over and half-pint milk cartons sealed shut with tape are other great noisemakers, and they're easy to decorate with construction paper.
Load each rattle with different fillers for a variety of tones. Then put on some snappy Latin jazz or salsa, sit your baby down with his or her new rhythm section, and get ready to rattle and roll!
Note: Reduce the risk of choking by taping all rattles tightly closed. And if your baby is the type to get it open no matter what, use bigger fillers such as bow-tie pasta or ping-pong balls.