Take bottles and fill each one with a different item, such as rice, jelly beans, beads, etc. Discard the nipple. They make wonderful instruments. They allow the children to make different kinds of sounds. Insert the dowel into the top.
Children love the sound the the colorful beads.
Punch and leave straight pins around the seam of the tube. Fill with rice, cover second end with foil. Cover with contact paper to decorate. That finished, the light bulbs can be dropped on the floor to break the bulb inside. Now each child has their own instrument during circle.