# Homemade Maracas > A preschooler decorates plastic cups with markers, fills them with (optionally colored) rice, pasta, oats or grits, then glues and tapes two cups rim to rim. The result is a rattle that a big kid makes for a baby sibling, or for themselves. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/home-made-maracas/ - Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium - Time: prep 10 min, activity 20 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class - Skills: fine-motor, hand-eye-coordination, following-directions, sensory-exploration, music, colors - Cautions: wheat-gluten, corn, food-dye, ingestion-risk ## Materials (one batch) - 2 piece Clear plastic cups (household) - 0.25 cup Uncooked rice, pasta, oats and grits (household) - Food coloring (optional) - 1 set Permanent markers - Non-toxic glue (e.g. Elmer's) - 1 roll Clear tape (household) - Small bowls for the fillings (household) ## Substitutions - Instead of glue: Hot glue or craft glue (Use it if you want a stronger adhesive. Make sure it's non-toxic. An adult handles hot glue.) - Instead of food coloring: Leave the grains and pasta uncolored (Food coloring is optional.) ## Safety - Rice, pasta, oats and grits are choking hazards for babies and toddlers. Keep the loose fillings away from little ones while making, and make sure the cups are firmly glued and taped before handing over a maraca. - Always supervise babies playing with the maracas. Check the tape and cups often for cracks or gaps. - When the baby starts picking at the tape, it's time to say bye bye to the homemade maracas. - Use non-toxic glue, because the end-user is a little person. If you use hot glue for a stronger seal, an adult handles the glue gun. - Kids draw on the inside of the cups so the outside stays clean for the baby's mouth. Supervise preschoolers using permanent markers. ## Before you start - Optional: color the rice, pasta, oats and grits with food coloring, then let them dry completely. - Put each filling in its own small bowl. ## Steps 1. Decorate the plastic cups with permanent markers, drawing on the insides of the cups. 2. Set the decorated cups out in pairs, two cups for each maraca. 3. Pour some grains or pasta into one cup of each pair. 4. Adult: put a little glue around the rim of the filled cup. 5. Turn the empty cup upside down and press it onto the filled cup, rim to rim, for a snug fit. 6. Let the glue dry for a few minutes. Use the time to clean up your work space. 7. Tape all the way around the seam so the two cups stay stuck together. 8. Shake, rattle and make some music! ## Tips - We drew on the insides of the cups. That way the outside stays clean for the baby's mouth. - Coloring the grains and pasta was big sister's idea, so the baby will learn all the colors. - Gluing the rims together gave us a snug fit before we taped them up. - Joining the cups rim to rim is great hand-eye coordination practice for a preschooler. - For a 9-month-old, the maracas are great for reaching and grasping, passing from hand to hand, rattling, and the 'I drop it and you pick it AGAIN' game! - Big S loved that she made something for her little sister. Now it's the best toy in the "whole wide world"! ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012) At 9 months old Baby S is all about sounds and music. She loves to dance to her sisters tune. This is so much fun to watch and Big S loves to make the baby dance. She will relentlessly come up with new sounds and new music to keep the baby entertained. One such was her bead box. I walked in on them rattling the bead box – (which by the way was stuffed with beads, something that we don’t bring into our play room especially since baby loves exploring it with her mouth )- to make music and that’s when we decided -Let's make some maracas. It would be something that Biggie can make and Smallie can enjoy. Me : Girls – Can we make some maracas? That got her attention. More noise making stuff- clearly what we needed. Big S loves music, it was something she could do and of course create some fine tunes and the baby can have her own musical toy ! It was a perfect thought. - Plastic cups - Food coloring (Optional) - Uncooked rice, pasta , oats and grits - Glue - Tape - Permanent markers **How we did it:** Big S and markers - match made in craft heaven ! She got busy decorating the cups. We decided to draw on the insides of the cup , that way it keeps the babys mouth clean. We also colored the grains and pasta, this was Big sisters’ idea so the baby will learn all the colors. What a wonderful thought ? Once the all the decorating was done , we put all the grains and pasta we colored into the cups. I put some glue on the rim and Big S attached the other cup rim to rim( hand -eye coordination ). This gave us a snug fit before we used the tape it stick them together. We used Elmers glue, but if you feel the need to use a stronger adhesive, feel free to use hot glue or craft glue. Make sure its non-toxic as the end-user is a little person ! Give it a few minutes to dry then tape it up ! ( Use the time to clean up your work-space). And that’s was it. We had some interesting maracas for Lil’S ! Fine motor skills- 9 month old: - Picking up the toy/object with forward and side reach - Holding / Grasping the object - Drop/Release the object- I drop it and you pick it 'AGAIN' game !!!! - Transferring the toy from one hand to the other - Rattle to make sound Skills learnt- Preschooler - Fine motor skills - Learning by doing and through senses, building self-reliance - Following simple directions - Developing hand-eye coordination Big S loved the idea that she made something for her little sister and now it's the best toy in the "Whole wide world" ! Note: As baby grows up he/she will get handsy and would very much try to pick at the tape and try to remove it. That again is great for developing fine motor skill - peeling of tape. But that's when it is time to say bye bye to those homemade maracas.