Paper Plate Tambourine

What You’ll Create

Shake, rattle, and roll! 🥁 Your little musicians will transform two paper plates into a fantastic homemade tambourine filled with uncooked rice that makes the most satisfying shaking sound! Tape the plates together, decorate with markers and coloured designs, then shake along to your favourite songs. It’s a real instrument that really works!

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Add the Rice

Take one paper plate and place it face-up on the table. Pour a small handful of uncooked rice into the centre — about two tablespoons is perfect. Too much and it won’t shake properly, too little and it’ll be too quiet. You want to hear every grain dancing around inside! 🍚

Step 2: Seal the Plates Together

Place the second paper plate face-down on top of the first, so the rims line up and the rice is trapped inside. Use strips of tape all the way around the edge to seal the plates together firmly. Make sure there are no gaps — you don’t want rice escaping mid-performance! Give it a test shake. Can you hear it? 🔊

Step 3: Decorate Your Tambourine

Now make it beautiful! Use markers to draw bold, colourful designs on both sides of your tambourine. Stars, swirls, zigzags, music notes, or rainbow patterns — whatever inspires you. Some musicians like to add ribbons or streamers taped to the edge for extra flair! 🎨

Step 4: Shake and Play

Hold your tambourine and give it a shake — listen to that gorgeous rattle! Try different techniques: shake it side to side for a steady rhythm, tap it against your palm for a beat, or spin it quickly for a continuous shimmer. Put on some music and play along — you’re in the band now! 🎵

Have fun!

• 🎶 Make several tambourines with different fillings — rice, lentils, pasta — and compare the sounds!
• 🎤 Start a family band with tambourines, shakers, and drums!
• 💃 Play freeze dance — shake the tambourine, and when it stops, everyone freezes!
• 🎵 Practise keeping a steady beat along with your favourite songs!

Why It’s Amazing

• Rhythm and Timing: Shaking to a beat develops children’s sense of rhythm — a foundational skill for both music and mathematics. 🎵

• Cause and Effect: Children directly experience how their actions (shaking) create an outcome (sound) — a key scientific concept. 🔬

• Creative Expression: Decorating their instrument and performing with it gives children a powerful outlet for musical and artistic expression. 🎭

• Listening Skills: Comparing different sounds, volumes, and rhythms sharpens auditory discrimination and attention. 👂

Pro Tips

For ages 2–4: An adult should handle the taping. Use a generous amount of tape so the plates stay sealed during enthusiastic shaking. Simple dot and line decorations are fine — the fun is in the shaking! Play simple clapping games with the tambourine.

For ages 4–7: Let them do the taping themselves (it doesn’t need to be neat!). Introduce musical concepts — fast/slow, loud/soft, steady beat. Play “copy my rhythm” — you shake a pattern, they copy it back.

For ages 7–10: Experiment with different fillings and amounts to compare sounds scientifically. Discuss how real tambourines work (metal jingles vs. their rice). Try taping small bells or buttons to the outside rim for extra percussion layers.

Secret Pro Move: For the best sound, use two plates that are the SAME size and seal them with masking tape rather than clear tape — masking tape sticks to the paper plate surface much more reliably. Add a few dried beans along with the rice for a richer, more complex rattle! 🫘