Make your own rainbow water glass xylophone!

Yes, there is something magical about xylophones. It seems to engage children from the age of 6 months all the way up to 10-year-old. So why not make your own one?

This amusing activity incorporates music into an educational science experiment! Your child will love learning about sound waves as he makes and plays sweet-sounding melodies on his very own glass xylophone. He’ll delight in exploring the effect of varying amounts of water in each glass, and will get to make up some enchanting tunes at the same time! The kids love trying to figure out how to play simply melodies like “Happy Birthday” and “Twinkle,  Twinkle Little Star” on the water glass xylophone. It is so fun!

How does it work?

Each glass makes a sound when you tap its side with a spoon (to avoid breakage, use a plastic spoon, not a wooden or a metal one) because the spoon causes a vibrating sound wave. The sound wave travels through the water in the glass and eventually reaches your ear. Each glass makes a different sound because the sound waves travel through the water at different speeds, causing vibrations at different frequencies. The glasses with the most water produce the lowest sounds because the sound waves travel slowest through all that water. The glasses with the least amount of water produce the highest sounds because sound waves travel fastest.

What will you need?

Making a water glass xylophone is so easy. To begin, we gathered the following supplies:

• 8 identical drinking glasses or jars
• water
• measuring cups
• food coloring
• plastic or wooden spoon

Find step by step instructions here:

https://www.connectionsacademy.com/resources/instructographics/music-water-glasses