Boomwhacker Storage Tutorial!

I'm lucky enough to have a lot of Boomwhackers. While they're not my absolute favorite instrument, my kids LOVE them and I do think they have their uses. They are fun, colorful, easy to play, good for independent note reading and playing together as a team, good for a squirrel-y group (I mean, we all have classes like that sometimes!) and they are a good way to show the small = high, big = low concept.

My Boomwhackers used to sit in baskets either under or on a table in my room. They just looked a little sad, would get dusty and they took up valuable space!

I also have a lot of pins on Pinterest. Like, 15,000. (I KNOW.... follow me on Pinterest here!) Like most teachers, I have several boards for school and I sometimes forget about what I have pinned. I had a few pins I couldn't forget about, though... pictures of these beautiful classrooms where the music teachers had hung Boomwhackers on the wall. What an ingenious idea! Not only is this really practical, but it gives some visual interest! So last year in May I took a chance and tried it out! I haven't looked back!

This is a step by step tutorial on hanging Boomwhackers on your wall (by yourself! I did this alone! An extra pair of hands would definitely be helpful, but you can do this!) Let me preface by saying I am not particularly handy. My Mom is, however, and she gave me all the ideas you see below. (Mom is always right!)

I used:

-velcro- double-sided with adhesive on the back

-staples & stapler

-yarn

-masking tape

-pencil

-scissors

1. Find a place to hang them. I have a wall in between two big windows that I thought was the perfect place!

2. Place your Boomwhackers on the floor the way you want them. I have enough to put the Boomwhackers going both directions. I knew I had 10 of each color, so I just split them 5 & 5 and I liked the way this looked. I measured how tall the Boomwhackers were laid out on the floor, then looked at my wall to see where I wanted them to start.

3. I am not great drawing straight lines, so my Mom suggested taping some yarn to make straight lines. I measured equally on each side, marked with pencil and taped the yarn with masking tape. I pulled it across and taped the other side. I put two pieces of yarn here for top and bottom of where I wanted the Boomwhackers to start and end. I put the drum there so I would remember not to hang the Boomwhackers too low near the drumheads (my drums are stored on this wall during the school year.)

4. Then I started dividing further- I knew I would be looking at this every day, and I knew I wanted it to be straight! I measured, divided the space in half and put up a middle line of yarn (first picture), then added a middle line of yarn in between those.

5. Then I was ready for velcro! I had some pretty sturdy double-sided velcro. I cut it a little longer than the width of the Boomwhackers. In some descriptions of hanging Boomwhackers, teachers used the adhesive side of the velcro to attach to the wall. I didn't want to damage the wall, so my Mom suggested leaving the adhesive on and stapling the velcro along the middle line of yarn. It worked! (See how the yarn came in handy?)

6. Then I started attaching Boomwhackers! Unfortunately I realized I never took a picture of the velcro on the actual Boomwhacker, and I'm locked out of my classroom for the summer. (I'll update with a picture of the velcro when school starts!) But I just cut a small piece, removed the adhesive and stuck it horizontally on the Boomwhacker. The velcro didn't change the sound or seem to damage it in any way.

If you want your Boomwhackers to line up straight (I'm a little OCD...), you have to line up the small piece of velcro on the instrument with the big piece on the wall.

7. Then you keep going....

8. And keep going...

9. Until you're done! Once you know it's straight, just remove the yarn! Ta-da! I was so pleased at how this worked!

10. These held up really well for the whole school year and was such a interesting visual!

My kids put them back pretty well, actually (see picture below!) I took the picture below after some 3rd graders hung them back up. I had a "teacher-like" kid (you know the type...) assisting putting them back. Occasionally I did have to add some more staples to the velcro, but the Boomwhackers stayed up all year. My kids sometimes roll the velcro on the carpet when they are waiting to play (the sound is a little cringe-worthy!) but otherwise I LOVE storing them this way!

And if you're wondering about those gorgeous Instrument Alphabet posters, I can't take credit for those! I bought them from David Row's Teachers Pay Teachers store- Make Moments Matter.

There you have it! I hope this is helpful! Feel free to reach out with any questions!