How To Make a Thumb Piano:

1. Find or cut a piece of wood to the correct size. Sand the surface and edges to make it smooth.

2. Straighten out the bobby pins, as shown above.

3. Space out the pins, and put the first staple for each pin near the edge of the wood as shown above.

4. Use a hammer to tap in the staples tightly over the bobby pins.

5. Now staple each bobby pin down a second time as shown in the photo below. Note how the distance between the two staples on each bobby pin gradually increases - this different length is what creates the different sounds in the scale. Again, hammer the staples down tightly.

6. Bend up the ends of each bobby pin that is sticking out past the second staple.

7. Now test out each note. You can add more staples at different places along the length of the bobby pins to adjust the sound.

8. Decorate with marker pens or paint.

9. Make some music!

Lisa’s Top Tips

• If your kids want to decorate with an intricate design, then it will be easier to draw or paint it on before you staple on the bobby pins.

• With a larger piece of wood and more pins, you can make a bigger musical scale!