How to Make a Classroom Set of KidStix
I had the pleasure of attending Artie Almeida's session at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, IL this past January. Artie has found great success creating playful, engaging ways to teach children musical concepts. At this conference she shared many engaging activities with the use of a classroom set of Kidstix. I knew right away that this would be something fun to add to @Music_Room_253.
Collections of Materials
My school does not provide a hot lunch for our students. So, I asked the custodian at my daughter's school if she wouldn't mind collecting fruit and vegetable cans from the lunchroom for me. She went above and beyond and asked the other buildings in the district for their cans as well and in no time I had 25 empty metal cans.
I found at West Music the Kidstix Classroom Concept Bundle Mix for $344.95. The bundle comes with drum sticks, tambourines, pop tubes and a resource book. Artie's kidstix cans also included a small, plastic cutting board as part of the kit. This does not come in the West Music bundle. She mentioned that you could find them at the local Dollar Tree. I believe you can even order these from the store if they aren't available on the shelf. I bought 25 cutting boards for $25.00.
Next, I headed to Joann's Fabric for Printed Duct Tape and Stickie Back Foam Sheets. Again, I have 25 cans so I bought 3 rolls of Printed Duct Tape. If you plan to cover the entire can with Duct Tape, or you want to create more than 25 cans, you will need at least 6-8 rolls. I needed 13 Stickie Foam Sheets for the project so I picked up two packages of Foam Sheets.
Supplies Needed
25-30 Metal Fruit/Vegetable Cans
30 drumsticks
30 small tambourines
30+ Pop Tubes
Kidstix Resource Book
3-8 Rolls of Printed Duct Tape
2 Packages of Stickie Back Foam Sheets
Lid of a Metal Can
Can Opener
Marker or Pen
Scissors
Let's Get Started!
1. To begin, I used the car opener and took off any lids that were still slightly attached to the can. I kept one lid as a pattern for the foam sheets.
2. I started with the printed duct tape first. The tape goes on the top of the can to cover where the lid was taken off. It makes for a nice smooth covering so students don't hurt themselves.
3. For looks, I added another band of printed duct tape on the bottom of the can. Some people cover the entire can with duct tape. I chose not to. If you do choose to cover the entire can with printed duct tape, you will need more than three rolls of tape.
4. Once the duct tape was on, I traced the top of the can on to the Stickie Back Foam Sheet and cut it out.
5. I then applied a layer of sticky back foam sheet to the bottom of the can.
6. Once I finished taping and placing foam sheet on all cans, I was ready to load the cans with the cutting board, mallets, pop tube, and tambourine. (My KidStix Classroom Concept Bundle is on back order so I will have wait a little longer until I can load the cans.)
Once I get my KidStix Classroom Concept Bundle, we will be ready to Rock n' Roll with the help up the KidStix Resource book. Artie has a variety of KidStix action pics here. After we have done a few of Artie's activities, I plan to give my students the task of creating their own rhythmic composition (with the use of Beat Blocks) and creating a routine to go with it. Who knows, we may even add our own GarageBand track to the creations. Stay tuned this year. I will share what create this year!
