Twisty Drum
I love percussion instruments so I really enjoyed making this twisty drum.
It’s so easy and fun to play, I can’t stop picking it up!
It requires an adult to help you. Here’s how I made mine, I hope you
have just as much fun as I did!
A strong thick cardboard tube/tub, 8-10cm in diameter
Wooden dowel, about 35cm long, 9mm in diameter
Baking paper
2 beads
String
Elastic bands – to fit around the tube or tub tightly
Scissors
PVA Glue
Glue brush
Sticky tape
An adult will need to do step 1 for you:
Cut a 4cm wide section of the tube or tub to make a ring.
Imagining where the 4 main compass points are:
Make 2 holes centrally at opposite sides for the dowel to fit snugly
through.
Make 2 smaller holes centrally at the other opposite sides for the
string to fit through.
Draw around the ring on some baking paper.
Now draw a larger concentric circle extending 3cm out from the
ring’s circle and cut out around the larger circle.
Repeat. You should now have two round pieces of baking paper
that are the same size.
On either one or both of the baking paper circles, draw a dinosaur
inside the smaller circle.
Tip: A soft drawing pencil works well on baking paper, felt tip pens
do not. Test what you plan to use on a scrap piece of baking
paper first.
Tip: As baking paper is similar to tracing paper, you may find
it easier to draw the dinosaur onto normal paper first then
trace it onto the baking paper.
Making Stuff…page 1
Cut 2 equal lengths of string (approximately 30cm long).
Thread a piece of string through one of the smaller holes. On the
inside of the ring tie a large knot so that the string cannot be
pulled out from the other side.
Repeat for the other piece of string.
Leave the string in place.
Insert the dowel into the ring by going through both of the larger
holes. It should be just sticking out of one side (that will become
the top of the drum) by about 1.5cm.
Leave dowel in place.
Step 6: Making the drum skins: This can be very tricky so
you may need an adult to help you:
Place one of your baking paper circles over the ring. Match up the
smaller circle you drew on the paper to the ring. Now crumple
down the surplus paper around the edge of the ring and secure it
in place with an elastic band. If you are finding this tricky you may
find that using a little sticky tape to help keep the paper in place
temporarily while you put the elastic band on may help.
Repeat for the other side of the drum.
The drum skin needs to be taut. You can tauten it by very gently
going around the ring and pulling the paper down while stretching
the band out a little.
You should now have a taut drum skin on each side. Where the
string comes out of the holes you need to (being very careful not
to cut the string by accident) trim away some of the excess paper.
Do not cut the paper so much that the elastic band cannot
grip it, otherwise the drum skin will not stay in place.
You only need to trim a very small amount away so that the paper
does not cover the hole that the string comes out of - the string
needs to be able to move around freely.
Making Stuff…page 2
Thread a bead onto one of the pieces of string sticking out the
side. Put the string straight across the drum face and slide the
bead to the centre of the drum.
Tie a knot, just slightly to the side of the bead, on the loose end of
the string. The knot needs to be strong and it should keep the
bead on the string. Leaving a small tail to the knot, trim away the
excess string. Repeat for the other side.
To help keep the drum skin taut very gently put PVA glue all over
one side. It will go a bit soggy and maybe a bit less taut at first,
but let it dry completely. If the skin is still a bit saggy, tauten it up
by repeating the process from the second half of step 6.
Repeat for the drum skin on the other side.
Well done, you have finished making your twisty drum.
To play it, roll the handle between your hands to make the beads
bang on the drum skins.
Have fun!
Making Stuff…page 3