Rubber Band Guitar Box Craft

An empty tissue box or shoebox with a hole cut in the lid

4-5 rubber bands of different thicknesses

Optional: a cardboard tube taped to one end for a "guitar neck"

Find an empty tissue box (the opening is already there) or cut a round hole in the lid of a shoebox.

Stretch 4-5 rubber bands of different thicknesses lengthwise over the opening of the box.

Space them out so your child can pluck each one individually with a finger.

Let your child pluck each rubber band and listen carefully to the different pitches — thick bands are lower, thin bands are higher.

Ask: "Which one sounds high? Which one sounds low?" Help them compare and experiment.

Try strumming a finger across all the bands at once for a chord-like sound. That's satisfying.

Sing a familiar song together and strum along on the rubber band guitar to keep the beat.

The thicker the rubber band, the lower the pitch. This is real physics your child is experiencing through play.

A tissue box works better than a shoebox because the opening is already perfectly sized and the box resonates nicely.

If you tape a paper towel tube to one end as a "neck," it looks more like a real guitar and kids love holding it that way.

Try pressing a rubber band down against the box while plucking it — it changes the pitch. That's how a real guitar works.

This is one of those activities where the making and the playing are equally valuable. The craft teaches fine motor skills, the playing teaches music.