STAR MARACA By:  Nathan B. The name of my instrument is Star Maraca. I thought about doing a guitar, but that day my dad finished his vitamin jar and it was just the right size to be my maraca. The materials I used were a long wood stick, a vitamin jar, some dry beans, and Gatorade caps. I found two empty Gatorade caps and used them. Then, when my dad finished his vitamin jar, I used that. I found the beans in my basement.       I first washed out everything, and then I removed any stickers that were on them. I then painted my stick and was almost ready to put my beans in. But first, I cut out stars on a tape roll and stuck them on the vitamin jar. Then, when I spray-painted them, they remained the color of the jar. I made sure everything was decorated, then put the beans in and glued the stick in. Finally, I glued the caps on so nothing would fall out. My instrument is in the percussion family. My maraca sounds like rice in a can, except louder. It's easy to make quick beats and easy to play. The sound is pretty loud and can be heard fine. If you lightly bang it against the table or on your hand, it makes a different sound. My dad helped me with the instrument. He gave me instructions on how to spray paint and cut out the stars made out of tape. When I came up with the idea, he told me what to do. My maraca had no real hard parts, just a lot of small steps. Spraying it with paint took while but wasn't hard.