Bucket Drumming for Kids: A Fun Gross Motor Music Activity

Bucket drumming for kids is a great way to explore music at home and teach your child basic rhythms. It's a great gross motor music activity and boredom buster.

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It's impossible not to use leftover cardboard tubes from Christmas gift wrap for a quick sword fight or two. Even as an adult. But cardboard tubes also make for awesome drum sticks for this super simple music activity.

Seriously, you've got to try bucket drumming for kids. It's tons of fun and requires basically zero effort on your part.

It's the perfect combo of music and movement for toddlers and preschoolers. Okay fine, the same applies for big kids too. The kids will burn off some of their never ending energy. They also learn a little about a music and build rhythm skills along the way. And, like I said, it's just plain fun. What's not to love?

Bucket Drumming for Kids: What You'll Need

Whether you plan to work on simple rhythms, advanced rhythms, or just let the kids do their thing, here's what you'll need for bucket drumming:

• A large bucket or two - Any size or shape will work. We used large round buckets with rope handles similar to these. Simply turn the bucket upside down to turn them into instant drums.

• Large cardboard tubes, wooden spoons, wooden dowels, or anything similar that would make for great drum sticks - Or use real drum sticks if you've got them.

We personally used two large green buckets and some cardboard tubes leftover from Christmas gift wrap for our bucket drumming. My boys also experimented with using their hands and feet to drum with, as you will soon see. 

Your Kids are Going to Love this Bucket Drumming & Stomping Activity!

The great thing about this drumming activity is that it gives the kids a chance to explore music in a variety of ways. They can test out different rhythms. They can use drum sticks or try using different parts of their body to see how the sound changes. They can tilt the drums while hitting them to see how the sound changes. You can use a variety of different buckets and pails and let your kids listen to how the sounds change depending on the size of the container. There are lots of possibilities.

Like I mentioned, you can also use bucket drums to experiment with different drumming techniques. Which is exactly what my boys decided to do. Up first, they tried slapping the drum like a bongo. While also sitting on the bucket haha

Then my boys tried stomping the bucket drums with their feet. Seems like the toddler thing to do in this instance, right? 

My oldest also tried stomping the bucket while also tapping the cardboard tubes together. I guess this would be like using the kick drum while also hitting the snare or high hats on a drum set.

There might have been some jumping from bucket to bucket too, but that was more for fun than it was for music's sake. But hey, bucket drumming for kids is more than just about the music aspect. It was also about burning off some extra energy so it was definitely a win all around!

Other Simple Drumming Activities for Kids

Two Simple Drum Games for Kids

Glow Stick Bucket Drumming for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Tin Can Drumming & Spelling Activity for Kids