If kids close their eyes and dream, they can imagine themselves relaxing in a hammock in the sunshine while the wind chimes tinkle in the breeze. It may still be wintertime, but KiwiCo’s wind chime set can bring kids one step closer to that idyllic moment in the sun.
This musical instrument set is designed for kids ages 5 and up and has everything they need to design their own set of DIY wind chimes. Kids can follow the directions, which are simple and clearly illustrated, to put together the wind chime base before stringing up the wind chimes themselves. In all, the wind chimes take less than 10 minutes to assemble. When the base is complete, kids can play with the wind chimes with the wooden striker or disconnect them from the base and use a string and a hook to hang them up outside.
The wind chime materials are very high quality, including wooden slats and beads, and fishing-line style bands to hold everything together. When I was building them, I wasn’t sure how stable the wind chimes would be, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried to shake up the base and it held together.
While making music is always fun, the wind chimes also show kids how pitches and sound waves work. There are six different sizes of wind chimes in the set in the colors of the rainbow. The instruction guide helps kids understand that the shorter chimes make a higher pitched noise while a longer chime makes a lower pitched noise because they release different sizes of sound waves. The concept may be hard for some kids to pick up right away, but the guide uses other examples, like how a small kitten has a higher pitched meow than a big lion, and also encourages kids to test out the theory in other ways.
The wind chimes are loud, so adults may want to talk with kids about when it’s a good time to play with the chimes, but the musical creativity combined with the science behind wind chimes is a great opportunity for kids to learn. Who knew playing music could teach kids so much about science?
Even if they have to wait until spring to hang their wind chimes outside, kids will flex their musical muscles with this DIY set.
