Does your child enjoy making music? They'll love this homemade instrument made from a paper towel roll, construction paper, and jingle bells.

For more ideas, be sure to visit our other classic kids' crafts, and our main crafts page.

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Place blue construction paper on the work surface. Cut the orange construction paper in half lengthwise. Lay half of the orange paper next to the blue paper. Overlap the orange paper about an each and use the glue stick to attach the blue and orange together. You should have enough paper to cover the length of the paper towel tube with some overlap at both ends.
2. Use glue stick to attach the paper to the paper towel tube, rolling it up until the tube is covered completely. Trim off excess. (See photo.)
3. Tuck the overlap into each end of the tube. (See photo.)
4. Thread 1-2 jingle bells onto each length of yarn, 2 bells on 2 pieces, 1 bell on 2 pieces. Tie a knot in each one to keep the bells stationary. (See photo.)
5. With the tube laying on the work surface, lay each length of yarn across the tube, alternating bells on each side. For example, lay the first length of yarn across the top of the tube, about an inch from the top with the bells on the left side. Place the next length of yarn about 2 inches below the first in the same fashion, only have the bells on the right. Secure the yarn with white craft glue and trim the ends when glue is dry. (See photo.)
6. Decorate the tube with small squares of blue, green, and red construction paper.
7. To use, hold the tube at the orange end and twist the tube left to right by moving your wrist left to right. This will cause the yarn and bells to swing back and forth around the tube.

Tips:

1. Don't throw away your construction paper scraps. Save them in a shoebox or zipper gallon bag. They come in quite handy for projects such as this when you need small pieces for decoration.
2. White glue can be used in place of a glue stick. We prefer the glue stick because it dries quickly and doesn't leave any unsightly bubbles under the paper like white glue can.
3. Jingle bells are available year round at craft supply and discount department stores.