ROAD TRIP, ROAD TRIP, ROAD TRIP! It feels like school just started, and already we’re packing up the truck and heading to the beach for fall break. Is there anything better than a good ol’ fashioned get-in-the-car-and-motor-across-the-USA-with-your-wild-bunch-of-kiddos family adventure? No way, blue jay!

But on a recent summer vacation, we noticed a troubling new trend: our backseat was eerily quiet. I mean radio silent! We had a precious few hours in the car, and we weren’t really spending the time together. Everyone was staring aimlessly out the window, napping, playing with their iPads and generally just not connecting. My husband and I made a pact to never allow this to happen again. So we got to work devising a plan to make family car time just that — family car time, a place to dream, laugh about the past and explore the future as a group!

And what kind of group is better than a rock group? We came up with the idea of making our own instruments so we could rock out in the car together.

Being the crafty family that we are, we set out transforming just about everything in our kitchen cabinets into a spoon slapping, sugar shaking, soup can bongo playing pop band. Yes, I know that sounds like a big dang deal. Well, these instruments were crazy easy to make, and it turned into an incredible way for our family to plan our trip together.

That’s right folks, we’re packing hot handmade jams for this trip (and I’m not talking about the sweet strawberry recipe my grandmother makes). I’m going to show you how we turned ordinary household items into a full-fledged rock and roll situation. Follow the super-easy DIYs to ensure your next open road adventure is a wild success!

• 4 unused soup containers
• 2 rubber balloons
• 8 large straws
• Leftover sprinkles
• Scissors
• Tape
• 2 plastic whisks
• 2 plastic easter eggs
• Bungee cord
• Hole punch
• A band of tiny musicians ready to rock!

Take four unused soup containers and remove the bottoms. Cut the end off your rubber balloons and wrap each tightly over the top of the containers. Use your hole punch to create two holes in each container and connect them with the bungee cord. Use your fun and colorful tape to create a pattern along the bottom for that true bongo look.

Arrange straws in a line and cut them at varying lengths, with the longest straws on the left down to the shortest straws on the right. Tape the straws together, and BOOM — you’ve got some spectacular singing straws.

We know you have a few containers of leftover sprinkles taking up precious space in your cabinet. Fill two plastic eggs with the sprinkles and place them inside your plastic whisks to create some super sweet sugar shakers. Now let the good times roll!