Make your own Djembe drums

 Before you begin 

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
• Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
• Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help. 

Planning and setting up this activity

• It’s up to you whether you use paper cups or plant pots to make your drum – both work well.
• It may be useful to make a drum before everyone arrives, so you can show them what they’re aiming for.

What’s a djembe?

• A djembe (pronounced ‘jem-bay’) is a drum originally from West Africa. People play djembes with their hands. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying ‘Anke djé, anke bé’, which translates to ‘Everyone gather together in peace’. The saying also explains a bit about the drum’s purpose.

Running this activity

1. Gather everyone together in a circle and ask everyone if they can name any countries in Africa. For example, Kenya, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and so on.
2. Explain that djembes are drums from West Africa. 
3. Tell everyone their going to make their own djembes and give out the materials.
4. First, use masking tape to stick the bottoms of two cups together.
5. Decorate the cups with colouring pens and pencils.
6. Tie an elastic band loosely where the two cups join. It should be over the masking tape.
7. Lay a plastic bag out flat. Put a cup upside down on the bag and draw a circle around it using a marker pen.
8. Take the cup away and draw a larger circle around the circle you’ve just drawn.
9. Cut carefully around the bigger circle with scissors. It’s OK for an adult to help with this.
10. Put the plastic bag circle on top of the drum. Pull the plastic tight, and use another rubber band to hold it in place. Don’t worry if it’s a bit tricky – this is a great time to work in pairs.
11. Cut a fairly long piece of wool.
12. Tie one end of the wool onto the rubber band in the middle of the drum.
13. Loop the wool up and underneath the top rubber band, then pull it so it’s straight and tie it on with a knot.
14. Keep zig-zagging the wool around the drum, going over and under the two rubber bands and tying knots to secure it in place.
15. If you run out of wool (or want to use more than one colour). Just trim the wool after you’ve tied it to an elastic band, then tie the new piece of wool on next to it and keep going.
16. If anyone wants to, they could create a handle by looping a piece of wool from the rubber band around the top of their drum to the one around its middle.
17. At the end, you could gather in a circle. Someone could clap out or play a simple rhythm. Everyone else can then repeat it back on their drums. You could put on a small performance for parents and carers.