Monday Made It - Rain Sticks!

Ok, so I realize I'm a day late, but it would have been hard to post this at the beach! (Don't get too excited or jealous. We were there for a day and a half and it rained pretty much the whole time.)  I'm linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for a Monday Made It linky! Since I'm going to start Daily 5 in my classroom this year, I've been looking for a calm and quiet transition signal. I used a timer last year that would beep when it was time to rotate. It served its purpose, but I hated it for a few reasons... First, my students would pay too much attention to it and would immediately start to rotate once it went off, whether or not I was done with my guided reading group. Second, it was really loud and I wasn't always at the table to turn it off when it started beeping. 

So, in comes the rain stick. Hoping that it will be slightly less distracting, and will only allow the students to rotate when I want them to rotate. It was VERY easy to make and cost practically nothing.

Here's what you'll need:

-PVC pipe: I found some pieces 1 1/4 in. thick, and about 3 feet long

-End caps: Make sure they're the same size, and that they're NOT screw on caps

-Nails: I used #16 x 1-1/4" with a FLAT head

-Rice (about a cup or 2, totally up to you)

-Duct tape (preferably a super fun pattern)

-Drill: I used a 1/16 drill bit, the smallest I had

-Gorilla glue

-Hammer

In theory, this is very simple. Drill holes into the pipe in a spiral pattern down the tube. I started out about a half inch apart, but it REALLY doesn't matter. As you can see, the holes got much closer together at certain points. There will be tiny pieces of PVC all over the floor when you're done. They're not sharp, but you might want to have the vacuum ready. Once you're done pounding nails into the little holes, wrap that sucker with your favorite duct tape. I opted for some chevron tape that I found at Target and/or Michael's. Can't remember. Put a tiny bit of gorilla glue inside the rim of one of the caps, and twist it on tightly. I let the glue dry for awhile before I put the rice in. Add the rice, glue the other cap, and BOOM! You're good to go!

Also, if you don't follow me on instagram yet, you should :-)

Anyone else out there going to the PA blogger meet-up tomorrow??