September and October are great months to celebrate Hispanic Heritage. One of the easiest ways to share the exciting and diverse Spanish and Latin American cultures is through music and simple instruments that kids can make and play themselves. Check out some of these easy projects that will get your students singing and playing along to a lively Latin beat.
For instance, why not make a simple guiro? You can see a guiro, hear one or color your own version of a guiro at the links below. You can also find a great pdf on how to create your own classroom guiros from water bottles with ridges. Believe it or not, they sound amazing and can be decorated in a variety of different ways, making this an artistic project as well.
3 different types of guiros
What about an instrument from the Afro-Peruvian culture? It’s easy to make a cajón – a box drum – from materials that any student can bring in from home. These square drums; similar to ones you might see on the coast of Peru, are perfect for learning the basics of hand drumming or just having some good old percussion fun! You can see, hear, color or find instructions to make a cajón below.
2 different types of cajons
And then there’s the cajita- a little box instrument. It’s great for exploring sound and developing motor skills at the same time. You can read all about it, see one played and check that instrument out as well at the links below.
A homemade cajita
Lastly, how about a set of maracas? I’ll be giving one away to anyone who signs up for my monthly newsletter. In a few days, I’ll also have a great rice and beans maracas craft ready to share with you. It’s lots of fun and perfect for playing along with Latin American songs that everyone recognizes such as La Cucaracha. If you’d like to check out my bilingual version of La Cucaracha and see a cute little cockroach dance and play a guiro, you can visit my VIMEO site as well. It’s a nice little channel that has a variety of multicultural song animations perfect for the early education classroom.
Sign up for my newsletter for a chance to win these Maracas!
Here’s hoping your month is a fun filled fiesta of music and songs and a real celebration of Hispanic culture!
See, hear or color a guiro:
http://www.dariamusic.com/guiro.php
Make a guiro pdf:
http://www.dariamusic.com/make_Guiro.php
See, hear or color a cajón:
http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php
Make a cajón pdf:
http://www.dariamusic.com/make_Cajon.php
Read all about the cajita:
https://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/the-cajita-a-little-box-that-is-an-instrument/
Win Some Maracas:
Find the contest on my monthly song page
http://www.dariamusic.com/monthly_song.php
Watch a Little Cockroach Dance – A Bilingual version of La Cucaracha
www.vimeo.com/dariamusic/la-cucaracha
DARIA’s VIMEO channel of song animations
www.vimeo.com/dariamusic
Check out my Spanish Language Music Blog
Creciendo Con Música
http://creciendoconmusicblog.wordpress.com/
Making Multicultural Music 
Daria, these look like so much fun! My son and I love playing music and dancing together, so I know he will really enjoy these. Thank you for sharing at the Culture Swapper!