You will need:

• A cardboard tube
• Plastic tube ends or balloons
• Rice or small lentils
• Aluminium foil

1. Choose a cardboard tube, a thinner long tube is best.

2. Take the foil and crunch it into a long twisting snake. The twistier the better!

3. Put the tin foil snake into the tube, and make sure it stretches the length of the tube.

4. Close up one side of the tube with a plastic tube end, or a balloon. If a balloon is used, it will make a sound like a drum when the rice reaches the end of the tube.

5. Put in a small handful of rice, and cover the other end. You may need to use tape to make sure the ends are secure.

6. Decorate and enjoy!

Slowly tilt the tube from one side to the other, holding the tube in a vertical position, letting the rice fall through the tube. What does it sound like?

It is believed rain sticks were invented in South America, in Peru or Chile, to bring much needed rain storms for growing crops. They are traditionally made from a cactus plant, dried out. The sharp needles of the cactus plant are broken off and driven onto the hollow tube, like nails. When pebbles or beans are inside the tube, it sounds like rain.

Who or what benefits from rain in nature?

Can you decorate the rain stick with animals and plants you know?