Play Along Box Drums

After you've learned how to make your Box Drum set, join musician Dave Jadico as he shows you how to find the beat and perform our exclusive song, "Rock Around the Box" on your new instrument!

Cardboard boxes
Wrapping paper
2 tin pie plates
2 liter plastic bottle
Foam packing peanuts
Rice
2 wrapping paper tubes
2 wooden spoons
4 dozen rubber bands
Scissors
Exacto knife
Colored duct tape
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. Take your empty cardboard boxes and make sure they’re tightly taped shut. Then wrap them all in a wrapping paper of your choice. You can use different wrapping paper for each box if you’d like. You can even decorate them using paint or markers. These will be your drums.
2. Now it’s time to make some cymbals. To make the first one, find an empty 2 liter soda bottle and a wrapping paper tube. Place the spout of the bottle into one of the ends of the tube and trace a circle around the tube onto the bottle.
3. With your adult helper, use an Exacto knife to cut the circle out of the bottle.
4. Cut the bottom of the bottle off where it starts to curve. Start the cut with your Exacto knife and finish cutting with your scissors.
5. Use colored duct tape to decorate the wrapping paper tube. Wrap it around the tube in a spiral or however else you would like.
6. Insert the end of the tube through the hole where the spout used to be on your bottle. Use more duct tape to hold it in place.
7. To make your second cymbal, take another wrapping paper tube and cut 4-5 two inch slits into one end of it.
8. Fold the slits back and stand the tube up onto the center of the bottom of one of your pie plates. Tape the slits of the tube down to the plate to hold it in place.
9. Take your second pie plate and fill it with rice and packing peanuts. Be sure not to overfill it.
10. Sandwich your two pie plates together with the rice and packing peanuts inside, sealing the rims together with duct tape.
11. Turn your completed pie plate cymbal right-side up and tape it to the side of one of your box drums.
12. Now for the drumsticks. Take two wooden spoons and wrap three to four rubber bands around the end of each spoon. Wrap more rubber bands around these to make a ball on each spoon handle. You should have ten to twenty rubber bands on each.
13. With all of the pieces complete, it’s time to finally assemble and play your drums. Stack your boxes so that you have at least three drum surfaces to hit with your drumsticks. Tape your soda bottle cymbal to another box drum and arrange it on one side of the kit with your pie plate cymbal on the other side. Now you’re ready to rock!