A Pie Plate and Pistachio Tambourine

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

An Imagination Station Activity from KinderArt

Age: Four and up
Time: 30 minutes
Type of Activity: Art

Are your kids ready to make some noise? Great! Simply gather two aluminum pie plates, paint, a hole punch, paintbrushes, pistachio nut shells (or rice or sunflower seeds), yarn, glue, a stapler, and a pair of safety scissors.

What to do:

First, decorate the outside of two pie plates with paint. Acrylic is the best type of paint to use, but you can also use tempera. If you find that your tempera is not sticking to the aluminum, add a touch of white glue to it.

Once the plates are decorated, put some pistachio nut shells into one plate. If you want, you can use rice, sunflower seeds, or even broken sea shells instead. Now put the two plates together. Attach them by either stapling them together, or by punching holes in the plates and threading them together with some bright colorful yarn. If you want to get fancy, you can add some glitter or paper streamers, or maybe even some colorful feathers. Either way, you're all set to make some music with your new tambourine!

Facts:
Pistachio nuts were first "discovered" in the Middle East, where they had grown wild for centuries. Once people in Iran found out about these tasty treats, they began planting them for harvesting in the 1800s. Today, Iran continues to be the world's largest pistachio producer.

Now you know!

©Andrea Mulder-Slater | KinderArt | http://www.kinderart.com