Daily Bread - Maraca Plans

Tools Needed

Screwdriver
Drill and small drillbit
80 Grit sandpaper

optional

Cordless screwdriver
Little drill bit for cordless screwdriver

Materials Needed

Easter egg
beads, beans, or other little small things
short piece of dowel rod, or fancy little table leg looking things
a screw
PVC pipe cement
Q-tip

optional

hot glue gun and glue
ribbons, beads, other pretty stuff.

How to make maracas.

This is a simple variation on the paper plate rattle most of us made as a child. The big difference is that this design will last longer than a day. In fact, this is about as permanent as anything you give to a kid can be. While it isn't as cheap to make as a paper plate rattle, it still isn't too awful expensive. What's more is that just about any kid older than 3 can make it from scratch, with minimal supervision. Hey look at the plans, and see for yourself!

The only thing a grown-up will have to do.
If you're using the little bitty table leg looking things, you probably won't have to do this. If you are using dowels, cut about a 4" piece off (It's going to be a handle.). With your sandpaper, sand either end till there aren't any splinters. Now drill a little pilot hole slightly smaller than the screw you're using in the end of your dowel. If you are using the little table leg looking things, check to make sure it has a hole in the end of it, most all of them do.
Attach the handle.
Take the least pointy half of the Easter egg(red in the picture), and run your screw through it into the pilot hole in the handle. Phillips head screws are usually easier for kids to turn. If very young kids are doing this, poke a hole in the bottom of it.
The noisey part.
Take the beads or beans, and lay them in the bottom of the egg. The exact noise the maraca makes will depend on how much and what size noisey stuff you put in the egg. Now is the time to experiment, snap the top half on the egg and give it a shake. If you want ribbons on your maraca, do that now(More on that below). When you are happy with how it sounds, move on to the next step.
Get it together.
Now that you are happy with your maraca, it's time to glue it together. Be sure to do this outside(or at least in a well ventillated area), as the glue will make you high if you don't. If doing this in a VBS, try to have a guy outside who will be known as "The Glue Guy". Crack open the egg, being careful not to make your beads fly everywhere when you do. Put some glue on your Q-tip and run a light bead around the rim of the male side of the egg. Then snap the two sides together. Let it dry for about 20 minutes and rattle away.

Making your maraca pretty!

Don't want your maraca to look like just an egg on a stick? Well, who said it has to! You are really only limited by your creativity. I've listed some stuff I thought of, but this is by no means all there is.

Sticker shock!
Everybody can use stickers. They will help make your maraca look like more than just an egg on a stick. What's even better, get a label making program($10 at Wal-mart) and make little scripture stickers. You can even get clear labels so they won't make your maraca look funky.
Pretty ribbons, oooh!
Lets face it, ribbons are pretty. Being a guy I would prefer barbed-wire, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to attach it. If you want ribbons, drill a hole in the side of the egg, prior to assembly. If a grown up does it, feel free to use a drill. If you want to let the kids try, use the cordless screwdrivers with bits, under close supervision of coarse. This may seem a little dangerous(and in all fairness it is), but kids love using grown up tools. Get a couple of the cheapest cordless screwdrivers you can find(I found some for $6, just be sure they can't be locked in the on position), they are more than strong enough to drill through an egg. At the same time they are so slow that if a kid would try to drill themself, all they will get is a scratch before they realize they are hurt. However you decide to do it is fine, I'm just offering my opinion. Next, take your ribbons and tie them in a knot towards the middle. Fold them in half and pass the un-knotty ends through the hole. Then, tie the ribbons so there is a knot on either side of the hole. Then finish putting it together. You can also try putting some on the end of the handle, too.
Stroling through the hardware store.
Looking to make your ho-hum maraca into a weapon? Screw some rounded allen-head screws around the top an bottom of the handle. A king's scepter? Some copper pipe caps on either end of the handle, with some fish tank glass "jewels" hot glued to the top. Walk around in a hardware store, and try not to see everything like such a grown-up!