Homemade Tambourine

This weekend we had our family reunion on my father’s side.   We usually have one every few years and I try to make it whenever we can.  And since this year they were doing it only about an 8 hour drive from here we knew we had to go.  The only problem with the 8 hour drive is my youngest daughter.  You see she does not travel well at all.  She has about a 30min limit of being strapped in then all hell breaks loose even with a DVD player.

So you can imagine none of us were really looking forward to the dive.  But I thought that maybe we could make some cool toys and things to help keep her entertained in the car and just maybe we could arrive with our hearing intact. I have to say that yes our toys did work but well not for the whole trip, so we still got an ear full but I am not sure we could have come up with anything to keep her occupied for 8 full hours.

Since we made a few things there will be a couple posts but for our first one, we made some neat homemade tambourines.  I know you are thinking a noise maker for the car?  Yes, the noise from the tambourine was a LOT less than the screeching sound of her screaming her displeasure at being in the car for so long.  I would take the tambourines over her screaming any day, and yes it is screaming. 

These homemade tambourines were also a lot of fun for my oldest daughter.  Each of the girls made their own and had a lot of fun coloring them.  Both of them made it through the trip and home fine so we still have them, I am thinking we may need to make some other instruments and have a homemade band.  Well that will be another post for sure!

Questions for all you parents!

Do your kids travel well?  What are some of the things you do to entertain your kids on a long drive?

Supplies

2 Paper Plates

Markers (I highly recommend washable)

Beads (if you don’t have beads, you could use beans)

Glue

Staples

Directions

 Have your kids color there paper plates using your washable markers.

 After both plates are decorated put some beads inside one plate 

 Then glue the two plates together

Then for added protection staple the two plates together (this will insure the kids can not pull them apart and let all the beads loose).

 Now play and have fun with your new DIY Tambourine.