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The Making Music activity kit from Kiwi Crate is full of instruments for kids to make! Time to make some music!
I got this chance to review a Kiwi Crate, they offer single crates, or activity kits, to order (instead of the monthly subscription), so you can try it out to see if you like it before committing to a subscription.
An activity kit all ready to go!
First of all, what is Kiwi Crate anyway? Its an activity kit sent right to your door. And if you get the subscription, you’ll get it every single month! Its full of activities to do around a certain theme and comes with all the supplies needed to do those activities.
Making Music: Instruments to Make!
Henry chose the Making Music Crate, which surprised me because music is one area we definitely lack in. The boys don’t like to sing and dance, and I don’t really push it.
But both Dad and I have learned how to play numerous instruments, and we would really like it if the boys ended up learning some too. But we don’t want to push it either.
This was my opportunity to get Henry excited about music!
We received the Making Music activity kit and checked out all the things to make in it. The activity kit contains all the materials to make an xylophone and rhythm bells.
Henry decorated the xylophone box and bars and then it was as simple as putting rubberbands (provided, everything you need is provided!) around the box and slide in the bars.
While Henry was decorating, I made the mallets quick with the two colored Popsicle sticks and ‘mallets’. The activity kit came with glue dots to stick them on very quickly, which made it super fast because there’s no waiting time to dry.
Henry was making music in a matter of minutes!
The Making Music activity kit also came with sheet music to make your own! I was absolutely thrilled with this. Kiwi Crate supplied us with a banner with gray dots. And Henry could stick the (also provided) color dot stickers onto each dot.
Those colored dots also got put onto the xylophone bars!
Henry read music for the first time ever! And it was so simple. Color coding the keys is genius!
The activity kit includes a bunch of alternative instruments to make too! A few are ideas that you can also make with the materials provided, such as a guitar. But there’s also plenty of ideas for other instruments to make with regular household items too!
The guitar was Henry’s favorite. He asked for a strap on it so he could carry it around easier to play.
To make the straps, I just used some ribbon I had on hand and stapled it to the box quick. Super simple. And it made Henry’s day for sure!
The other instrument to make in the Making Music activity kit from Kiwi Crate is the rhythm beads.
Its simple with some wooden beads and bells. Thread them onto the string provided, and that’s it! Make them pretty by coloring the wooden beads with the colored pencils. Shake Shake Shake!
And I think my favorite instrument that we made from the Kiwi Crate Making Music kit is the washboard.
Its not part of the kit, but they give instructions on how to make one using the Kiwi Crate box itself! Just the cardboard box with the facing ripped off. Then some tape around the edges to finish it off nicely. Super duper simple.
We used the xylophone mallet to play on it.
Bonus: The activity kit comes with a kids scissors, just because they know with all the activities, you’re likely to need a scissors! How awesome!
The boys have enjoyed their homemade musical instruments for sure! Henry’s proud that he made them himself and plays the guitar quite a bit.
A bunch of Kiwi Crate’s activity kits have been reviewed, check out the selection of them!
- Pirate Adventure from A Mom with a Lesson Plan and another one from Wired
- Salt & Water Experiment at Kids Activities Blog
- A Color Crate from Tinkerlab and another one from Red Ted Art
- Gifts Made By Me from The Artful Parent
- Playful Pets from Ramblings of a Suburban Mom
- Antarctic Adventure from Sew Can Do
- Wild Safari from Macaroni Kid
Thank you Kiwi Crate for sending us this awesome activity kit to make our own instruments! You can order your own single crate or a monthly subscription!
Kiwi Crate is on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
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Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas says
love these simple and fun DIY instruments! I need to try that guitar – very cool for kids to make and play with.
Jill @ A Mom With A Lesson Plan says
Awesome kit!!! I love that they have made reading music so simple.
maryanne @ mama smiles says
What a cool crate! My kids would love it!
Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says
What a fantastic box of crafts I’ve pinned to my musical instrument pinterest board. How I wish we had something similar in the UK I’ve now reviewed a few and nothing compares to the boxes that I see Kiwi Crate send out in the US
Rachelle says
We LOVE Kiwi Crate! My kids see the green boxes and will literally run for a pair of scissors to cut the box open. The materials are so carefully selected and they’re of the highest quality — it’s such a good deal for all that you get.
Jen says
I love the xylophone! Looks like your son had a lot of fun playing with the entire crate. What a great idea!
Jennifer says
What ages are appropriate for Kiwi Crates and how many children can use it?
Jamie Reimer says
Jennifer – the site says for ages 3-7 — George did a little bit of this crate with Henry and he’s 2. But he needed quite a bit of assistance. — the crate’s made for 1 child, but again they could share it and each do something from the kit. But there’s not enough supplies for each of them to do everything. You can add on a sibling though for lesser charge than to get a whole new crate.