How To Tuesdays #5: Glass Bottle Xylophone

This is the easiest project yet, and it has been the one that Rosie loves the most. Here is a clip of her playing a song on the xylophone we made…

I borrowed this idea from a really great book called Eco-Friendly Crafting with Kids by Kate Lilley. She has tons of amazing ideas in this book and on her site, Mini Eco. Making your own glass xylophone is simple, cheap, and a great experiment in sound and music.

Here we go.

Supplies:
Glass bottles (8 if you want a full scale)
Water
Something to bang with (a spoon, a chopstick, etc.)
Food coloring (optional, but super-inspiring to have color!)

Instructions:

Fill each bottle with varying amounts of water. (We started with a little in the first and then gradually added a little more in each one after that. We were able to get a good scale this way, although it might be even better to start by filling one up and then going down the scale from there…) Listen to the pitches and add or pour out water depending on the sound you want.