Do you know what a Chinese rattle drum is?

The rattle drum is a traditional Chinese toy that’s often found at festivals.

I’ve always found that one of the best ways to teach my kids about another culture is by doing a craft. So we decided to make our own version of a Chinese rattle drum craft.

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This kids craft version is fun to make and opens the door to discussions about Chinese culture and Chinese New Year. Keep reading and I’ll tell you how we made it.

Supplies Needed:

Heavy cardboard (from a shipping box)
Scissors
Lid (we used a sour cream container lid)
Red construction paper
Wood beads
Gold paint pen or permanent marker
Glue
String
Large craft stick

How to make your Chinese Rattle Drum craft:

To start, I used the plastic sour cream lid to trace three circles.

I traced one on the cardboard and two on the red construction paper.

Then we cut them out. The cardboard is hard to cut, so an adult may want to tackle this part of the project.

While I was cutting the cardboard, my preschooler decided to decorate the red circles with the gold paint pen.

We talked about a few Chinese designs she could draw and she opted to decorate her drum with gold coins. They were joined later with a few friendly dragon faces.

After I cut out the cardboard circle, I poked a hole in each side. We needed the holes to tie our beads to the drum

Meanwhile, my preschooler colored our beads with the gold pen.

Once our decorating was finished, we glued a red circle to each side of the cardboard.

The, we took the string and tied it through the two holes in the side. (Note: We found using a needle made this step much easier.)

We then tied a bead to each string making sure your strings are short enough that your beads will hit your circles.

To finish off our drum, we glued a large craft stick to the back of our drum. We happened to have a red craft stick, but any color will do.

I also added a dot of glue to each knot. Without the glue, we had problems with our knots coming untied while we played with the drum. Once we added the glue, our knots have stayed strong.

To play the drum, hold it by the stick and rotate your drum back and forth. The bead will swing up and hit your drum. Then, grab your sister (or brother or friend) and go dancing through the house!

You may also like one of these China crafts and Activities:

Straw Painting and Paper Lanterns

Chinese Character Printmaking Project

35+ China Activities for Kids

10 Books About China and Chinese New Year at No Time for Flashcards

Our favorite crafting resources

You probably already have most of the resources you need to make this fun Chinese rattle drum craft at home. But, if not, here are a few of our recommended products:

Would you like to do more activities with your kids?

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