Well… I say “how to make a guitar with kids” and a guitar we did make. But this is a musical instrument craft for kids in the most generous sense – it DOES play different notes (we will try and explain the science behind it for you over on Life At The Zoo), but clearly this will not be an instrument you will learn to play music on. Interestingly, we do have a real kid’s guitar and we now have this toy guitar and Red Ted loves playing with both equally. That, is what I call a result! Red Ted loves it so much we are considering getting guitar lessons for beginners.
DIY Guitar – Materials:
- a container (to help make the sound resonate),
- elastic bands of varying sizes and thickness,
- cardboard,
- a stick,
- beads (optional),
- tape and
- hot glue gun (you may get away without the hot glue gun, but just lots of tape).
It was really easy to make. I probably did most of it though (sorry), but the kids were involved in every step of the process and rather excited.
1) Wrap your elastic bands around your container and tape in place, so they don’t slide off whilst playing. Just to reiterate – the plastic container is a great way to help make those elastic bands REALLY resonate and make the guitar more musical.
2) Cut out a guitar shape from cardboard (we used the flap of a large box), including a hole for the strings.
3) Tape your container to the back of your cardboard. Then use a hot glue gun to help secure any remaining edges.
4) Glue your stick to your cardboard (or tape in place). We then added some pony beads as “tuners” to the guitar and glued in place with the hot glue gun.
And finished.. can you believe it?
Later… our white guitar cardboard proved irresistible and the kids started colouring it in!
Check out our full collection of Musical Instrument Crafts for Kids here:
Emma @Mummymummymum says
May 1, 2013 at 8:30 amBrilliant Maggy 🙂
Red Ted Art says
May 1, 2013 at 9:41 amThank you! The kids had fun (even though I seemed to be doing most of the making?!)
Liz Burton says
May 1, 2013 at 12:07 pmYour guitar is SO cool!
Red Ted Art says
May 1, 2013 at 12:25 pmThanks Liz, I love how the kids love it equally to the “real one”…
@BlueBearWood says
May 1, 2013 at 1:33 pmBrilliant. It has been added to our to do list. Handmade Rock Band is real
Red Ted Art says
May 1, 2013 at 1:42 pmI think you are right. We had some drums for a while too!
Bella says
May 1, 2013 at 2:31 pmThat’s so clever. Love how kids can decorate the guitar and personalize it!
Ness @ One Perfect Day says
May 1, 2013 at 2:53 pmThis is fantastic Maggy. I love the colourful pony bead tuners and the fact that Pip Squeak and Red Ted added their own finishing touches!
Red Ted Art says
May 1, 2013 at 3:21 pmYes, it looked like a white canvas screaming to be coloured in!! I think it may be an ongoing process too!
Chris at Thinly Spread says
May 1, 2013 at 3:32 pmThose are such fabulous photos! I love it!
A Patchwork Life says
May 1, 2013 at 4:44 pmLooks like a lot of fun! Love that the kids did a bit of decorating 🙂
Red Ted Art says
May 1, 2013 at 5:02 pmYes, I think they were rather “surprised” that they were allowed to draw “anything”!
Galia says
May 5, 2013 at 10:05 amSuch a great idea, can’t wait to do with my childrem (:
love your blog!
Rachel says
May 8, 2013 at 5:20 amMaggy, this is so much fun!!! And I have to say, your kids get cuter and cuter as they grow… my goodness!!! Thanks for sharing at For the Kids Fridays! I’m featuring this post at this week’s party!!
Red Ted Art says
May 8, 2013 at 11:55 amAwe what a lovely thing to say!! Crazy seeing them grow up, isn’t it?!
Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says
May 13, 2013 at 8:27 pmI have yet another thing to add to our MUST make list now. This is fantastic.
Thank you for linking up to Tuesday Tots – just to let you know that I will be featuring this over on Rainy Day Mum this week.