When you hear someone play the maracas, you can’t help but think that you are in some deep jungle with wild animals and lush vegetation. You feel that you are dancing to nature’s orchestra as you hop around a bonfire.

It’s quite surprising how a small and simple musical instrument can suddenly insert those thoughts in your head. You want to roar. You want to scream. You want to make your own pair of maracas to get you into your natural high whenever you want.

Before you make your own pair of maracas, you should be aware of the instrument’s signature sound. The sounds of a maraca seem like grains of sand swishing inside a plastic container. You have to capture that tone before you can call an instrument a maraca. Fortunately, that sound is quite easy to produce and the same goes with the instrument itself.

There are different forms of maracas and all of them are easy to make. You can create maracas from paper mache or by using an egg. You can also use rice or mung beans as the filling of your maracas. If you listen closely, you will notice that rice and mung beans emit similar tones but have different pitches.

You can make two sets of maracas where one set has rice fillings and the other with mung beans to have some sound variety when you and your friends play them. You can also make your maracas look as exciting as they sound by using paint and tiny decorative items.

Paper Mache Maracas

Paper mache maracas are just like simple art projects. You can build this musical instrument by gluing together strips of paper and painting them with colorful designs.

Between the two basic types of maracas, paper mache maracas are the more complex to create but the finished product will look just like the maracas sold in music stores. The best thing about paper mache maracas is that you will enjoy making them as much as you will enjoy playing them. They look better and are more customizable than egg maracas.

Materials Used:

• newspaper
• rice/mung beans (filling)
• paper mache glue
• balloon
• toilet tissue tube
• paint
• paintbrush

First, get your filling materials, rice or mung beans, and place them inside a deflated balloon. Position the toilet tissue tube beneath the balloon then inflate the balloon to a size that is proportional to the size of the toilet paper’s cardboard tube. Once you have inflated the balloon, knot its opening to keep the air from escaping.

Now, cover your maraca with strips of newspaper and use the paper mache glue so that the newspaper will stick to the toilet tissue tube and the balloon. After adding your final layer of newspaper strips, cover the entire maraca with paper mache glue.

Ready your paint and paintbrush as you wait for the glue to dry. When the maraca is dry, you can paint your own design on the maraca’s surface. You could also add stickers and other tiny decorations to stylize your maraca.

After the stylizing process, you will have a paper mache maraca that looks and sounds almost as good as the real thing. You may even change the way maracas are made if you manage to impress a lot of people with your makeshift instrument.

Egg Maracas

You can say that egg maracas are portable versions of the popular musical instrument. They appear as colorful eggs that emit the same sound as traditional maracas. Egg maracas have gradually grown in fame as some people already consider them distinct musical instruments. They are often called egg shakers by musicians.

Materials Used:

• eggs
• rice/mung beans (filling)
• paint
• tape/glue

The initial step to create egg maracas is to make the maraca container. Get an egg and boil it. Once the egg is cooked, split it at the middle. Empty out the egg’s contents and clean the shell with soap and water. Make sure that all the stuff inside is washed out before proceeding.

Place rice or mung beans in one half of the eggshell then join the two halves using tape or glue. Some musicians cover their eggs with paper mache to make the maraca sturdier. Now, you can paint patterns on the eggshell to make the maraca look stylish. You can also add poster colors, stickers and other designs if you choose.

At this point, you have an egg maraca fit for musical gigs or for display. Wow your friends by singing along to the radio while playing your egg instrument.

Maracas are simple musical instruments that make simple music. However, the music that they make blends with almost all forms of music, making each musical genre sound more complete. How can you go wrong with a musical instrument that is both a mover and shaker?

Watch The Video

Making Maracas Out Of Rice, Beans, & Paper Bags

Making Maracas