Savanna Drum

This craft project is available for the following age groups:

• Juniors & Primaries
• Pre-Primaries
• Toddlers

African design patterns used in assembing the drums are available by downloading the pdf version of this project (see below).

Juniors & Primaries

Materials

• Yellow hot/cold 9 oz. paper cups, 3 per child ††
• Red 12-in. balloons*, 1 per child ††
• Paper clips, 12 per child ††
• Red mini pony beads, 3 per child ††
• Orange mini pony beads, 3 per child ††
• Regular ½-in. masking tape, 8 in. per child ††
• Red ½-in. masking tape, 3 in. per child ††
• Orange ½-in. masking tape, 3 in. per child ††
• Jute, 42 in. per child ††
• Red construction paper, two 1-in. squares per child ††
• Orange construction paper, two 1-in. squares per child ††
• African Designs pattern ††
• White copy paper, 1 sheet for every 4 children
• †† Craft sticks, 2 per child ††
• #32 rubber bands, 1 per child ††
• Zippered baggies

*If latex allergies are a concern, substitute muslin fabric for the balloons.

Tools and Basic Supplies ††

• Glue sticks ††
• Scissors ††
• Finishing nails ††
• Permanent markers

Pre-Prep

1. Join the bottoms of two cups and carefully secure with an 8-in. piece of regular masking tape.
2. Cut jute into 42-in. pieces, one piece per child.
3. Cut each balloon across the middle and dispose of the blowing end.
4. Use a finishing nail to poke 6 holes around the rim of the top cup— evenly spaced and just under the lip.
5. Cut red and orange construction paper into 1-in. squares, 2 of each color per child.
6. Place 1 cut balloon, 12 paper clips, 3 red pony beads, 3 orange pony beads, 1 jute piece, 2 red squares, 2 orange squares, 2 craft sticks, and 1 rubber band into zippered baggies for each child.
7. Photocopy the African Designs pattern onto white copy paper, one sheet for every 4 children. Then cut the copies in half along the dashed line. These should be placed on the craft tables for pairs of children to use.

Teaching Tie-In

Show the sample craft and say:

Today we’re making savanna drums. The Swahili word for drum is “ngoma” (n-GO-ma). Drums are very popular in Africa and come in many shapes and sizes. It’s fun to listen to the beat of drums, isn’t it?

Drumbeats and all kinds of other sounds come into your ears. It’s really important to be wise in what you listen to because what comes into your ears ends up influencing your actions! Sometimes people make really unwise choices of what they listen to, and sometimes people make really wise choices! What are some unwise choices of things to listen to? Take answers. What is the very best thing to listen to? God’s Word, because it tells us how to live wisely.

King Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs in the Bible, and he urgently asked his son to listen to the advice in them. Do you want to be wise? Then hear and do God’s Word!

Pre-Primaries

Materials

• Yellow hot/cold 9 oz. paper cups, 3 per child ††
• Red 12-in. balloons*, 1 per child ††
• Red ½-in. masking tape, 8 in. per child ††
• Safari animal/African design stickers (11-3-088) ††
• Craft sticks, 2 per child ††
• #32 rubber bands, 1 per child

*If latex allergies are a concern, substitute muslin fabric for the balloons.

Tools and Basic Supplies

• Scissors ††
• Permanent markers

Pre-Prep

1. Join the bottoms of two cups and carefully secure with an 8-in. piece of red masking tape.
2. Cut each balloon across the middle and dispose of the blowing end.
3. Place another cup into the top cup and then use both hands to stretch the balloon over the top 2 rims.
4. Purchase the safari animal stickers from answersbook store.com (11-3-088).

Teaching Tie-In

Show the sample craft and say:

Today we’re making savanna drums. It’s fun to listen to the beat of drums, isn’t it?

Drumbeats and all kinds of other sounds come into your ears. There are lots of things you can listen to, but what’s the very best thing to listen to? God’s Word, the Bible! It tells us how to live wisely. Remember to hear and do God’s Word!

Class Time Directions

1. Decorate the drum with stickers and permanent markers.
2. Decorate the 2 craft sticks with permanent markers.
3. Slide a rubber band onto the bottom cup and use it to hold the craft stick “drumsticks” when not in use.

Tip Corner

• To save money, purchase bulk white cups for the extra cup. They must be the exact same size as the yellow cups, however. Or use white cups entirely. Although not as attractive, they’re less expensive.

Super Simple Idea

Try the following Oriental Trading Company craft kit. (Call 1-800-875-8480 or visit www.orientaltrading.com.)

• Elephant Headband Craft Kit (IN-13626200)—Use this to remind the trekkers of today’s animal pal, Tembo the Elephant. Tembo’s big ears remind us to hear God’s Word and do it!

Toddlers

Materials

• 32 oz. clear deli container with lid, 1 per child ††
• Muslin, one 7-in. diameter circle per child ††
• Zebra Print pattern ††
• White copy paper, 1 sheet per child ††
• Safari animal/African design stickers (11-3-088)

Tools and Basic Supplies ††

• Office paper cutter ††
• Scissors ††
• Crayons or markers ††
• Invisible tape

Pre-Prep

1. Photocopy the Zebra Print pattern onto white copy paper. Then cut out, 1 print per child.
2. Cut muslin into 7-in. diameter circles, 1 per child.

Teaching Tie-In

Hold up the sample craft and say:

Today we’re making savanna drums. It’s fun to listen to the beat of drums, isn’t it?

Drumbeats and all kinds of other sounds come into our ears. There are lots of things we can listen to, but what’s the very best thing to listen to? God’s Word, the Bible! It tells us how to live wisely. Remember to hear and do God’s Word!

Class Time Directions

1. Color the zebra print sheet with crayons or markers.
2. With the colored zebra print facing out, tape the ends together. Then insert the looped zebra print into the drum (deli container).
3. Lay the muslin over the top of the open container, then gently press the lid down over the top and snap into place.
4. Add animal stickers to the outside of the “drum.”

Tip Corner

• Clear deli containers can be found at restaurant supply stores and various online sources.

Super Simple Idea

Try the following Oriental Trading Company craft kit. (Call 1-800-875-8480 or visit www.orientaltrading.com.)

• Elephant Headband Craft Kit (IN-13626200)—Use this to remind the trekkers of today’s animal pal, Tembo the Elephant. Tembo’s big ears remind us to hear God’s Word and do it!