Make Your Own Musical Egg Shakers

Split peas, like lentils, are perfect for sensory play…and for making your own musical egg shakers! With our Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe, we’re using our split peas to make music!

Em LOVES music.  I have been taking her to the same music class since she was only six months old.  We love our class, not only because of our wonderful music teacher (Hi, Ms. Patty!), but because of the fun and unique instruments that she uses to engage her students with music. Everything from scarves, to kitchen spoons and bowls, to big drums.

One of our favorite instruments are little red egg-shaped shakers that we use to keep the beat with our songs in class.  All of the kids love them because they’re small enough for little toddler hands to hold and they make the neatest sounds!  We had to try and make them at home. To make your own musical egg shakers, you’ll need…

• small plastic eggs (easy to find this time of year!)
• split peas (save a ½ cup or so before making your Split Pea Soup)
• stickers or washi tape for decorating your egg shakers
• clear packing tape

1. Decorate your eggs with stickers or washi tape.  Small stickers work best since the eggs are curved.
2. Fill the bottom half of each egg with 1-2 tablespoons of dried split peas. Put the top half of the egg on.
3. Use a small strip of clear packing tape to seal the egg shut, so you don’t have split peas everywhere if little hands open up the egg. If you really want a tight seal, you could also superglue the eggs shut.
4. Turn on some music and shake away!

How else can you use your shakers? Here are some variations that our music teacher does in class…

• Using your shakers, keep the beat on the floor, on your knees, on your head, on your nose, etc.
• Shake one shaker at a time, practicing left and right
• Tap one shaker on your head and one on your belly to work on coordination
• Roll your shakers on the ground
• Clap your shakers together

Let’s make some music!

Disclaimer: As with all of our activities, my suggestions for how kids can get involved are based on what has worked in our home.  Your child may be able to do more or less based on their age and/or ability.  As always, make sure you are properly supervising and engaging with kids that are participating in learning activities.