Musical Containers

Know any small angels who are in need of a harp?  How about one of these rubberband harps?  They are easy to make, and a fun activity for kids (of any age).

I was experimenting with these homemade harps because I needed a craft for a Sunday School lesson about David the Shepherd.

It's interesting to try out different thicknesses of rubberbands and see what different sounds can be made.  Also, you can try different containers.  I found that a really nice sound came from using a shallow microwave potato dish (see photo below) with SMALL rubberbands (so they will be fairly tight).

The big styrofoam tray (far back in the photo at the top) makes a deeper sound-- this could be a science experiment, too.  If you use a larger countainer, you need longer rubberbands, and vice-versa-- if they're too loose you will not get a musical tone.

The sound these harps make is fairly soft (you don't have to worry about this activity making "too much noise!") but you can get a range of tones, and the container-harps are fun to make and play-- plink plink, plunk!