The Sounds of Rain
By John Cowens

Your classroom will sound like a symphony after this lesson on rainsticks.

Rainsticks are African and South American musical instruments that recreate the soothing sounds of rain. They were originally made of bamboo or dried cacti tubes. Inside the tubes are small river pebbles and cactus thorns. The longer the tube, the longer-lasting the "music."

Below you'll find instructions for making both a large and small rainstick from different materials. Each rainstick has a sound very similar to that of the original instruments.

Making a large rainstick
Materials:

• a five-foot piece of PVC (plastic) pipe with a two-inch inside diameter

• six feet of 1/4" wooden dowel rods

• small handsaw

• a hand drill with a 1/4" bit

• sandpaper (fine grit)

• 12 pieces of 2" x 6" corrugated cardboard
  

• two PVC caps that fit over the ends of the five-foot PVC pipe

• colored plastic tape

• 1/2 cup of uncooked rice or beans

• various colors of acrylic paint

Procedures:

1. At any hardware store, purchase a 10-foot piece of PVC pipe and ask the clerk to cut it in
   half.

2. Measure 10 inches from one end of the PVC and drill a 1/4" hole through both sides of the pipe. From this hole, give the pipe a 1/8 turn and drill another pair of holes one inch below. Drill seven more pairs of holes as you turn the pipe. The holes will resemble a spiral.

3. At the other end of the pipe, drill the same spiraling holes, the same distances apart, as you did in the first end.

4. Drill a third series of spiraling holes in the middle section of the PVC pipe.
   

5. Push a 1/4" thick dowel through the first pair of holes that you drilled and make sure it fits snugly. Then, trim the excess dowel where it comes out of the sides of the pipe. Continue to fill all of the holes with dowels. Lightly sand the PVC pipe and the ends of the dowel smooth.

6. Fold one 2" x 6" piece of corrugated cardboard into an accordion shape and stuff it into one end of the pipe until it stops at the first dowel. The accordion-shaped cardboard will stretch outward to the inside walls. Fold four or five more pieces of cardboard into accordions and stuff each on top of the first piece of cardboard. The cardboard will slow the dried rice or beans as they pass through the tube.

7. Repeat step #6 to the other end of the PVC pipe.

8. Place a PVC cap onto one end of the pipe and make sure it has a tight fit.
   

9. Pour the uncooked rice or beans, into the open end of the pipe. Place the other PVC cap onto the end.

10. Lightly sand the outside of the PVC pipe and dowel ends. Decorate the rainstick with colored plastic tape and acrylic paints.

11. To use the rainstick, practice tilting it slowly back and forth until you can maintain a steady "rain" sound. Close your eyes and listen to the gentle rain.

Extension:

1. Add a tablespoon of fish aquarium gravel and/or dried navy beans to the rainstick. Does it make a different "rain" sound? Is the sound louder with heavier objects?

2. Make a rainstick from a metal or wood tube. Will the "rain" make a different sound?

Making a small rainstick
Materials:

• One cardboard mailing tube or the cardboard tube from plastic wrap – 1-1/2" in diameter and about 12" long. You can also take two or three of these cardboard tubes and tape them together.

• a black marker

• tape (masking or packing tape is fine)

• paper

• uncooked rice and/or beans

• hand drill with 1/8" bit

• three-foot dowel rod, 1/8" thick

• glue

• decorating materials

Procedures:

1. Since mailing tubes and/or plastic wrap tubes have spiral seams, use the black marker to draw dots about half an inch apart, all the way down the spiral seam of the tube.

2. Drill 1/8" holes through the tube where it has been marked with dots.

3. Place the 1/8" dowel through the tube for every pair of holes and trim flush with the outside surface.

4. Place a drop of glue on the ends of each piece of dowel to secure.

5. Cut two circles of paper about one inch wider in diameter than the cardboard tube. Mold the paper circle over the end of the tube and tape it shut.

6. Put a tablespoon of rice or beans into the open end of the tube. Cover the open end with your hand, and turn the tube over. Add more rice or beans until you produce a pleasant sound.

7. Once satisfied with the amount of rice or beans, cut the second circle of paper and seal the end shut with tape. Students can then decorate their rainsticks.

Extension:
Display a map of South America and find the Amazon River in Brazil. This region of rainforests contains more species of plants and animals than all of the rest of the world's ecosystems combined. It's also the home to thousands of known (and undiscovered) species of plants and animals. Unfortunately, logging and agriculture are destroying these plants and animals at an alarming rate. Suggest each child write a haiku about one specific plant from the rainforest. Ask your students to then illustrate their poems. You can then bind the poems and create a class "Rainforest Poetry" book.

John Cowens teaches sixth grade at Fleming Middle School in Grants Pass, OR.