Paint Buckets for Drumming, Sitting, Storage, and Management

Thank you so much to Warkenda Casey for sharing this incredibly clever and creative bucket upgrade!

While at AOSA conference this year (2023) I was in the middle of a conversation with a group of ACEMM members about the set up for our classrooms. We were talking about the storage of our various instruments, the placement of our various classroom tools and all else that goes into teaching music & movement in our various spots. I shrugged and said that I have enough shelving to place my instruments, but the biggest problem that I had to solve was optional seating and dividing unpitched percussion within the groups and so I solved it with bucket drums. I completely confused the entire group, and after explaining what I did, I was told to write about this so that others may use the idea if they wish.

I teach in several different environments, however, in the PK - 6th grade school, the 6th graders use bucket drums every year. This is something that they look forward to, but storing 20 bucket drums in a classroom without closet space and only shelving became a difficult situation. Especially for a person like me who likes to have everything in a place and a place for everything. Although most of our time is spent standing and dancing, we also have the problem of having several students who may not always wish to sit on the floor when we are not dancing or playing games. We also have several unpitched percussion instruments that must be handed out in a fair way as well as group picking and general classroom management issues that I would prefer to solve in as efficient a way as possible.

Those twenty-five unsightly five-gallon bucket drums cluttering up the room came to the rescue!

The buckets were donated by out local hardware store. We wrote a letter on school letterhead asking for a donation of twenty buckets for the music and movement program and they were happy to give them to us (in exchange I am sure for a tax write off). If your local store can not donate them, they tend to be around $5.00 per bucket. I did, however, need to purchase the lids for each bucket which cost around $2.00 per lid.

After securing the lids, it was time to start to work. I used steel wool and sand paper to scruff the lids and buckets. This step may not seem important, but the paint will not stick to the buckets without this step. After this, I used acetylacetone (strong fingernail polish remover) to finish preparing the buckets and lids. Make sure that you are careful to sruff the groves of the bucket as well. Without doing this, the paint does not stick.

After scruffing the buckets and lids, I took a piece of cardboard and traced the bottom of the bucket, cut out a few of these and put them to the side. Shockingly, the bottom of the bucket and the inside of the lid are the same size and this measurement will come in handy later.

Next I used Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch to spray paint the buckets and lids. Each can cost around $7.00 and it took two coats of paint per bucket to cover them well. For twenty buckets, I used five cans of spray paint. After each coat of paint, I left the buckets to dry for twenty-four hours before applying the second coat of paint. Make sure to do both this step and the one before in a well ventilated area (outside) and masked if you are able. Between the small shavings of plastic, the acetylacetone and spray paint, it can be quite hard on the lungs if there is not enough air flow.

I picked up one 4’ x 8’ panel of OSB (a type of plywood that I found easier and less expensive to work with $14.58 per sheet) and had a friend cut them into rounds using the cardboard measurement from earlier.

Next, I went to my local craft store for high density foam. These can be purchased by the roll and I always wait for sales and also use coupons as well. The normal price for this 3” x 24 “ foam is $40.00 per yard. When I purchased it I got it for $10.00 per yard and only needed two yards for twenty buckets. The fabric I used was the cotton quilter’s fabric. Again, look for what is on sale and use coupons as well. This fabric can run you anywhere between $4.00 - $20.00 per yard before sales and coupons. You will only need half a yard of each one (this will make two buckets).

Now comes the fun part. I cut a circle from the foam to the size of the card board circle, and a square from the fabric to the size of the circle with two inches extra on all sides. After drilling a hole through the plywood and bucket, I fastened the two together using a screw and wing nut. I also epoxy glue (you could also use Super Glue) to glue the fabric to the cushion (tucking in the fabric tightly all around) and the cushion to the wood. Finally, decorate the painted buckets in any way you would like. I choose to use Keith Karing figures I cut out with my Cricut to decorate them.

Now, you have a basic set of bucket drums that double as seats! Now to take them to the next level and use them for classroom management as well!

Out of twenty-five buckets this is how I broke them up by decorations to make managing the classroom easier:

Two buckets always have the same lids. This way I can break the class into groups of twos easily; “Find the seat that matches yours”.

I placed two different large figures on the buckets ( a dancing heart and a dancing dog) to divide the class into half; “Dogs go to the left. Hearts go to the right.”

Each bucket has one of six colored dancing people on them (red, blue, yellow, orange, green and purple) to break the class into small groups of 3 or 4. It has already been established where the various colors go. “Rainbow, assemble in your areas please.”

Each bucket has inside something that scrapes, something that rings and something that you hut to make a sound (guiro, triangle, rhythm sticks for example), so when I tell people to take out something specific, they know what to get. I have also made sure that that there is a different grouping of instruments in each rainbow group so that the sound balances well.

The students love their new bucket drum seating and picked up the classroom management system quickly. I can keep the bucket drum seating out (it matches my rainbow room well) and although they are not always used as seating, they are always available and easy to get to.