Paper tube Didgeridoo

Cakes has seen the Didgeridoo used in many community and theme park performances, though her favourite place to see the Didgeridoo in action is in a ZingZillas video on her CBeebies app on my phone. So before making a paper tube Didgeridoo she did a little research and watched an Indigenous Australian playing the Didgeridoo for the ZingZillas. She requested colours to paint her paper tube with and said "I need these colours 'cause the man had them colours". We then discussed why that the colours he used were made with dirt and plants found in the environment. She then asked "why doesn't he use paint?", this lead to a discussion about the history of Indigenous Australians (and paint). 


Cakes then used all her colours to make marks on the paper tubes. She did straight lines, wiggly lines, dots and some marks she described as Australian animals "a turtle in green, a pattypus (platypus) and an Emu". 


At first Cakes put her mouth around the outside of her tube and she appeared very distressed by the sound it was making. I demonstrated putting my mouth inside the tube and she tried that. Still not luck. Together we practised blowing rasberries and then placing the tube to our mouths. This was perfect and Cakes played it for the entire morning. We had a mini corroboree though it wasn't as much fun without clacking sticks and some dancing. We might try again when Daddy comes home. 

Learning

• Indigenous Australian culture
• small muscle development
• hand eye coordination
• aesthetic appreciation
• music making techniques

What you will need:

• paper tubes
• paint (colours naturally found and made by Indigenous Australian's or Ochres)
• cotton buds (or fingers)