Make Box Guitar

Get ready to sing the blues with your own box guitar! All you need is an old shoe box, some rubber bands and of course Activity TV!

Long tissue box
Scissors
2 rubber bands
Pencil
Colorful duct tape
Paper towel tube
Colorful plastic tape
Exacto knife
Permanent marker
Wire cutters
Paintbrush
Clear tape

REMEMBER THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS WORK UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION. SOMETIMES WE USE THINGS THAT CAN BE HARMFUL, LIKE SCISSORS, SO DON'T EVER ATTEMPT TO MAKE THESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ALONE.

1. Cover up the hole on the top of an empty tissue box using three pieces of colorful duct tape.
2. Flip the box upside down (so that the bottom of the box is facing upwards). Using the permanent marker, draw an oval in the middle of the box.
3. With adult supervision, use the Exacto knife to cut out the oval. This is where the sound will come out of the guitar.
4. Take the paper towel tube and stand it upright along a smaller square side of the tissue box. The tube must line up along the edge of the issue box where you just cut your oval. Use the marker to trace around the tube on the box. When you pull the tube away, you should have a small black circle drawn along the edge of your tissue box.
5. On the other small, square side of the issue box trace another circle onto the box using the paper towel tube. This time, trace the circle a half inch away from the edge.
6. Using the Exacto knife with adult supervision, cut out these two circles.
7. Without covering the holes, cover the entire tissue box with the colored duct tape.
8. Now you can decorate your box how ever you’d like. You can use other colored tape, markers or even stickers!
9. Next, cut 4-5 slits, about one inch in length, along one edge of the paper towel tube. Then gently pull back the pieces of the tube as if you were peeling a banana.
10. Starting with the end of the tube that has not been cut, slide the tube through the box, beginning with the hole that is on the side a half an inch away from the edge. Pull the tube all the way through the box until the frayed end of the tube is just peeking out of the other side of the box.
11. Using the colored duct tape, tape down the frayed ends of the paper towel tube to the outside of the box. This will keep your guitar neck in place.
12. With the permanent marker, draw horizontal lines across the paper towel tube about a half inch apart to make frets.
13. Place your finger at the bottom of the oval and draw an imaginary line to the bottom of the box. Then, using the marker, place two dots on either side of your finger. The space between the dots should be about a half inch apart.
14. Take the Exacto knife with adult supervision and place it on top of one of the dots. Spin the knife until a small hole is created. Do the same with the other dot. Then, along the side of the box, which is the bottom of your guitar, poke two more holes using the Exacto knife. These two holes should be “underneath” the two dots you poked up top.
15. Cut one of the rubber bands and pull it along the top of the paint brush to create tension. Holding the rubber band in place with your thumb and index finger, push the paintbrush through the top hole you cut and pull it out through the bottom hole, the one that is “underneath” the top hole. Grab the end of the rubber band and pull it through. Double knot the end of the rubber band. Repeat with the second rubber band and the second set of holes.
16. Using the wire cutters, cut the pencil in half. Place half of the pencil between the bottom of the oval and right above where you just tied the rubber bands. Using the clear tape, tape the pencil down.
17. Cut two notches, a quarter of an inch in length, on the top of the paper towel tube. Tie a knot on the end of each of the rubber bands. Pull the rubber bands to the top of the guitar and place them in the notches, with the knot keeping the rubber band in place. Now you are ready to jam out with your homemade guitar!