These easy DIY rhythm sticks lend themselves to so many games, musical and otherwise! To make a few simple pairs, I purchased dowels at the craft store and painted each set a different color. For starters we had blue and purple, but keep adding to your collection for lots of colors if desired.

Once the paint dried, I showed Veronika a few easy ways to play with them. First I simply encouraged her to tap the sticks while I hummed a song.

Then I held out one of the sticks from my pair so she could tap against mine. This is almost like rhythm stick Patty Cake.

We put on music and just played along, of course!

Then it was fun to challenge her to match color to color. Keep this particular version up as your baby advances to toddlerhood.

It can also be fun to see how your baby uses the sticks, perhaps in ways you haven’t imagined, and to imitate the moves. Veronika liked rolling hers on the floor…

…and waving them in the air. So I followed suit!

We loved this musical interlude together.