Crafts
Fine MotorPreschoolers111 Comments
Upcycle your tin cans into fun, homemade wind chimes that the kids can make!
I love finding ways to use recyclable items in our crafts. One of my go-to recycling bin picks: tin cans!
We were in the mood to create a cool craft with tin cans. Something pretty and decorative.
Henry and I rummaged through our recycling bins to find some tin cans in various shapes and sizes, including some lids.
Simple & Pretty Homemade Wind Chimes Kids Can Make!
Believe me, there’s a lot you can do with stuff from your recycling bin! Upcycle whatever you can for the kids to play and create with!
To make your own homemade wind chimes, you’ll need:
- cleaned out tin cans
- paint
- string
- hammer
- nail
- metal washers or nuts
- glitter (optional)
- tape (optional)
Remember to check over your cans for sharp edges. I taped around the rims of the cans to prevent any cuts.
Using his trusty green basting paintbrush, Henry painted the outside of the tin cans with washable tempera paint.
Find 30 more classic summer crafts for kids to make!
We had added glitter to the paint. But when painting it on the can, it didn’t show.
Of course, we had to see the glitter. So Henry shook a lot more on the tin cans when the paint was still wet.
So glad we did this project outside! If you’re working inside, lay down some newspaper or even a plastic shower curtain liner to contain the mess.
After the paint dried, we punched holes in the bottom of the tin cans.
Henry actually refused to use the real hammer and would only use his yellow toy one. He was determined to make the hole.
Luckily he let me take a few swings in between his so I could punch it through.
I am quite impressed with Henry’s hand-eye coordination, he never once missed his target.
I strung a long piece of yarn through the holes and tied two washers onto the end of the string, inside the tin cans. One washer is used to hold the yarn in place, the other is placed at the end of the string to make a lovely clanking sound when it hits the tin can.
You could also use nuts or rocks instead of washers. Something that is hard enough to make a noise when it hits the can.
Henry tried threading the yarn through the washer holes but still continues to struggle with this. Yarn isn’t the best medium to practice threading since it comes unraveled and isn’t stiff.
Experiment with Sound
Once you’ve tied on your washers to the wind chimes, test out the noise it makes!
Henry noticed right away that different size washers make different noises. Different size tin cans make different noises, too!
Hang up the tin cans so that they overlap each other.
Let the wind do its thing and enjoy the wonderful clanking of your homemade wind chimes! Or you can let your child do their thing and listen to it all the time!
You’ll love these 26 tin can crafts, music and activities kids can do!
Henry and I have been reading about the wind in The Windy Day, by Anna Milbourne (affiliate link).
Wind is everywhere around us, you need it to fly a kite, or turn a windmill for energy, or for the seagulls to fly! And even if its not blowing near you, its blowing somewhere!
For lots of crafty weather ideas, visit Red Ted Art’s Weather Themed Crafts and Tutorials. The tin can windchime by Learn 2 Grow inspired our DIY windchimes!
What weather activities have you done to go with our homemade wind chimes?
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judebray says
Thanks for sharing the nice activities for children.
Carol Cooke says
What kind of paint did you use
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Carol! Jamie used washable tempera paint for this activity!
Jenny says
I love the idea of upcycling and saving what would otherwise be trash. With today’s toys that kids get bored of, it’s a must. We need to try these wind chimes as well. Thanks.
j l says
No glitter! It’s micro plastic, and will end up in water.
morgan says
really great ideas
Chhaya says
Superb
Patti Phillips says
My first thought was “Awesome! John could tie it to his little bike and drag it around. He’d LOVE that!”. The second thought was – “Oh, my God, what am I thinking about! That would drive us mad!”
Penny Bates says
Great ideas thanks
Lisa says
So your paint didn’t flake off? I am struggling with what to paint the tin cans
Bob says
What did you use to hang the cans from? That is our biggest challenge in trying to make a windchime right now. We can’t figure out what to mount them to. Unfortunately your “base” isn’t shown in any of the pictures.
Thanks!
Jamie Reimer says
I just tied them on a hook on my porch.
beth c says
ooh we definitely need to do this! :) did you tie the cans to something at the top or just hang them? i can get creative with that- i’m just curious :) thanks so much for the inspiration!
martina says
amazing! i like it
Tova says
These are such a great idea, will they be able to hold up outside in the rain if I use the temper paint? I want to do this with my students but I’m looking for something that can hang out side without getting ruined to quickly, Thanks!!
Jamie Reimer says
I’m not sure if you use tempera paint. We used a washable Crayola paint, and obviously they washed off in the rain. Good luck! Would love to see photos if you do it!
andie jaye says
these are cute! i love the colors. thinking we might need to make some to hang on the playhouse! *pinned
Jamie Reimer says
Thanks Andie!
DiAnne Sundberg says
Great craft! You can “paint” the ends of the yarn with clear nail polish or white glue to keep them from unraveling!
Jamie Reimer says
Thank you DiAnne! Great tip for the yarn! Will definitely try that next time.
Joleen says
So wonderful! Sharing this idea! YOU ROCK! I’m making this one of my summer neighborhood craft activities. Thanks for posting.
theclassroomcreative says
Hi Jamie- When my children get a little older we are definitely going to create these wind chimes for our garden! I included them in our garden recycle craft post @ theclassroomcreative. I also put them in our recycled crafts gallery. Great idea- Karen & Nicolette
Victoriaguo says
Creative idea. The craft is really good. I am eager to make it with my little boy.
Shannon Ganshorn says
I found this via Crafting a Greener World – I LOVE it! Forget the kids, I’m making one of these myself!! :)
Tami says
Just stopping by to let you know that I’ve featured your craft on Family Fun Crafts! You can see it here:
http://funfamilycrafts.com/tin-can-wind-chimes/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, I’d love it if you would submit them. :) If you would like to display a
featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.
Jamie says
Thank you so much!
Elizabeth says
This looks like a fun craft. Have to try it!
Ms. Tonya says
I love the windchime idea for outdoor music! I am always on the look out for music ideas.
Love the Windy Day too- I use to sell Usborne Books!
Tonya
http://www.stringskeysandmelodies.blogspot.com
K May says
great idea!!
Love that you featured "Windy Day" from Usborne Books!!! It's wonderful to connect art & story! love it!
K May says
great idea!!
Love that you featured "Windy Day" from Usborne Books!!! It's wonderful to connect art & story! love it!
Taylor says
cute idea….your pictures are so bright and colorful!!
saying Hi from
http://morethanabcand123.blogspot.com/
JDaniel4's Mom says
JDaniel love windchimes! He would love this!
Sheryl @ Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds says
These are wonderful!
Jeremy says
wind chimes give me serenity and calmness. I have 3 of those, given to me by loving girlfriend. The funny thing about my wind chimes, it really attracts birds and they sung together with my chimes. :) just looking at them, they are totally awesome, and yah it's like a nature concert. :)
Jeremy says
The best wind chimes are hand tuned by musical professionals. They come in several tunings ranges giving you a large variety of sounds. They also come in many different materials from chrome steel to bamboo. Even if you have a small balcony garden in a high rise apartment the variety of sizes means anyone can own their personalised wind chime set and listen to the natural sounds of the world.
Amanda says
Oh I am in love with how these turned out! My favorite part is that your little one did so much in this project.
I run Fun Family Crafts, a site similar in nature to Craftgawker and Spotlight, but different in that it's a library of craft tutorials geared only at kids. I would love it if you'd stop by and submit this to be featured! (I link to you, I don't post your tutorial on the site) Feel free to submit as many kid friendly craft tutorials as you like! http://funfamilycrafts.com/
itstrott4u18 says
behalf of Henary art i suggested that each one have a hidden art but no one tries to disclose it.and also we should promote such type of art of kids.
Daily Craft says
Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with over 15,000 fans. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!
mama roses says
Gosh ! Do I need say anything at all. Loved the idea in every possible way. Doable, recycled, working tool, lots of learning and best of all…great option for all those yards are missing. I really liked the practical, washer, option.
angela says
This is really pretty and useful in various aspects and it is also reliable and durable
aalina says
What a fantastic idea. Thank you so much for the idea. It's not only recycling, and decorative, and crafty, and musical, and visual, and tactile, but also weather-related! Whew. What a great project. Thanks!
Kristin @ Preschool Universe says
These are so pretty…I can think of lots of family members who would LOVE receiving this as a gift! Putting this in my post on tin can crafts.
Michelle says
These turned out wonderful Jamie! And it's wonderful that he did the most of the work himself! :) Thanks for adding this post to High paw linky. See ya!
Aimee from Classified: Mom says
Love it! In fact so much I am going to feature it this week at The Sunday Showcase! SO go to Classified: Mom and grab your Feature Button! Make sure to stop back this Sunday to see your feature and link up again!
D+B says
Love your blog! its so cute!! I am your newest follower!! Here is my blog also if you would like to follow me back. I am new to this, but I am excited to share my ideas on the love of food.. Also I will be giving away free stuff like my mineral make-up line. so take a look.. And watch out for it. :)
-Brooke
For-The-Luv-Of.blogspot.com
Cathy James says
You can never have too much glitter. ;D
Jenny says
LOVE this! My son would love making this! And his little sister would love making it make noise!
I found you through Made by Little Hands Monday.
Sondra says
Love the bright colors, great pictures! I have been saving some cans and containers and haven't been sure what we will do with them, now I know. Thanks for the children's book suggestion also.
vanpeltium says
Super cute!! I think both my boys would love to do this. Thanks for the great idea!!
KJ@letsgoflyakite says
I love this project. It is so special and I really love how you incorporated recycable materials. Found you via Craft Gossip.
Rebekah says
Beautiful wind chime! I definitely want to do this with our daughter.
Streamers are fun to play with on a windy day. Bring a roll of streamer paper along to the park to share, and you will become very popular with the kids. =)
Jackie H. says
That's so cute. My mom would love it if her grandsons would make her a bright windchime like that for her garden. I guess we'll have to get on it! woo hoo for free presents for Grandma ;)
Kelli- AdventurezInChildRearing says
Fun! I've been eyeballing our cans & such working on coming up with a good plan for them- my boys will certainly love this- we may incorporate some of our sea shells into the project!
Julie says
I love this idea! Definitely adding it to our summer to-do list!
RedTedArt says
(PS thank you for linking to Kids Get Crafty!!!)
Esther says
Wonderful upcycled wind chime! I heart Upcycled projects!
Brooke says
I love this idea! I think my girls would really get into this…
Mama Pea Pod says
Oh, btw, I just shared on fb, but would love for you to come over and link this up to Friday's Outdoor Play blog hop linky!
Mama Pea Pod says
How fun! I don't know why, but these days I'm slightly obsessed with the outdoor music play idea, and these are the perfect addition to an outdoor music area! I especially love the glitter – definitely makes them extra special!
Radtke Customs says
We flew plastic bags one windy day. Tied string to the handles and raced around the yard.
Cathy@pre-schoolplay says
Wow perfect timing! These will be great to add to our music wall that we created last week.
rachelle | tinkerlab says
it's beautiful, jamie! i love the picture of henry in the sunglasses. are they his safety glasses? :)
@jeannezoo says
lovely use of cans, paint and glitter…and one toy hammer :) wonderful post!
Jen Green says
What a fantastic idea. Thank you so much for the idea. It's not only recycling, and decorative, and crafty, and musical, and visual, and tactile, but also weather-related! Whew. What a great project. Thanks!
Jessica @ My World - Made By Hand says
Oh my goodness…I absolutely LOVE these!
Becky says
Oh, I love it! Thanks for a great tutorial!
Amanda @ Gratefully Growing in Grace says
How fun! Great activity. For a weather activity, we have made clouds in bottles.
RedTedArt says
Oh I LIKE, actually I LOVE!!! What a fab craft and what a fab book! Hooray for your first Book & Craft post!!
Maggy
Nicole {tired, need sleep} says
Oh, love this!! Thanks for sharing – I am putting this on our summer to-do list. :)
The Art Fairy says
Have you ever tried putting a piece of tape at the end of the yarn when he's practicing lacing? It will make it sort of like a shoelace and prevent the end from getting unraveled. Love all these projects! You are a great mom!
Stacy@{share and remember} says
I love this! Very cute!
Counting Coconuts says
Very cute! Reposted on my Counting Coconuts Facebook page. :)
Art For Little Hands says
I love this. How does it sound? I have been thinking our yard was missing some chimes. I love the glitter on these!
Ness says
This looks great! We'll definitely be making one of these.