Diego's Rain Forest Rain Stick

It may sound like rain, but it's actually lentils inside a foil-lined tube. All it takes is recycled materials you have at home.

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Materials

• Cardboard tube, such as from paper towels
• Lightweight green stationary or wrapping paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Aluminum foil
• Dry lentils or unpopped popcorn kernels, about 1 /4 cup
• Green wrapping paper or stationary
• Diego's Rain Forest Stickers
• Crayons or colored markers

Directions

1. Step 1

   Lightly trace the end of the tube with a pencil onto the green paper. Draw a larger circle around the first one and repeat with another piece of paper. Use scissors to snip notches in the paper circles. These circles will be used to cover the ends of the tube.

2. Step 2

   Cover one end of the tube by applying glue to the notches of one of the circles, and then close them around the end of the tube, allowing them to overlap. Let dry. Do not cover the other end of tube.

3. Step 3

   While the glue is drying, kids can lightly squeeze a 9-inch wide and 22-inch-long piece of aluminum foil into a snake shape. Then, fold the snake in half and very, very loosely twist it into a fat rope.

4. Step 4

   Slip the aluminum foil rope inside the tube. Pour in the 1/4 cup of lentils or popcorn.

5. Step 5

   Cover the other end of the tube with the other paper circle and let the glue dry.

6. Step 6

   Cut a piece of green paper that is the same length as the tube and about 6 1/2 inches in width, so when rolled around the tube, it overlaps. Kids can use crayons or markers to create their own Diego designs on the paper before adding it to the tube. Parents can draw the leaves freehand for kids to cut out and glue on, or print Diego's Rain Forest Stickers (on sticker paper) to decorate the tube. Glue the paper around the tube and allow to dry.

7. Step 7

   To hear the "rain" fall, slowly tip the tube.