Egg Carton and Wrench Xylophone

I have often thought my husband's wrench set looked like a xylophone, but the tight plastic holder prevents it from making any real sound.

Thanks to Alex Sabbeth's Rubber-Band Banjos and a Java Jive Bass: Projects & Activities on the Science of Music & Sound, we discovered empty egg cartons, transform the tools, into a pretty good instrument.

We experimented with different sized egg cartons, and different "mallets", such as silverware, both ends of a screwdriver, and the wrenches themselves. The little ones were having quite a jam session...

...until they both wanted to play the same notes.

I thought I could solve the problem by adding in some coffee can drums, but not everyone appreciated the music.

Finally, the older children took over, arranging and rearranging the wrenches, to try to get the pitch perfect enough to play an actual tune.

It wasn't easy, but they came close.

And everyone enjoyed exploring more of the science of sound.

It's great to be a homeschooler.