- Health and Wellbeing
- Families
Keeping Spirits Up
CBBC Presenter Ben Shires presents a family mission all about Second World War veteran and ukulele player Thomas Boardman. Watch your mission briefing to find out how you can make your own music just like Tom!
Mission Briefing
Part of the Family Mission series created during the UK lockdown in Spring 2020.
Oh hello! I didn't see you there. I'm Ben Shires and you just caught me having a practice on my ukulele all thanks to this week's family mission from the musical maestros at Imperial War Museums.
Now, you may enjoy listening to or playing music at home. It's really great for stopping you from being bored and can even make you happy if you're feeling a bit sad. And music was really important in wartime too when families would huddle around the radio each and every night to listen to, well, whatever songs people listen to during the 1940s.
Some people went to incredible lengths to make sure they stayed creative and kept their spirits up often during the direst of circumstances and that's exactly what Thomas Boardman from Leigh near Manchester did. Thomas was taken prisoner of war in 1942 in Singapore. Prisoners of war had to endure terrible conditions, but Thomas had a love for music and for keeping his and his friends’ spirits up even during the darkest of days. He was determined not to let the realities of war affect him too badly and so he set about building his own ukulele from old Red Cross boxes and string and played music to his fellow camp inmates in order to lift their spirits and give them hope during those terrible times.
Inspired by Tom's musical methods in keeping everyone's spirits up, for this week's IWM Family Mission, we want you to make your very own ukulele just like Tom's and the great news is you've probably got everything you need for your own home-made uke already at home. All you'll need is an old cereal box, a long cardboard tube, some string, some glue, and some scissors for a grown-up to use. Our musical maestros have put together all the instructions you'll need on the IWM website. You'll be lifting your family’s spirits in no time.
(singing) I can play the ukulele that I made and I'm very cool!
And better yet you can even check out Thomas's real-life ukulele that he made on display at IWM North which is now reopen! We can't wait to welcome you back soon and, in the meantime, don't forget to check out our weekly free activities on the Home Learning Hub on the IWM website I’ll see you next time.
Don’t worry about playing freestyle as the musical maestros at IWM have whipped up some instructions for you to make your very own ukulele all from everyday objects you can find in your home!
Materials
You will need a cereal box, a long cardboard tube (you can find these in wrapping paper tubes or stick together toilet roll holders), string, glue and scissors for a grown up to use.
Instructions
1. First use a pencil to make a hole in the bottom half of the front of your cereal box. Then ask your grown up to cut out a circle for you.
2. Use the pencil to pierce five holes at the top and bottom of the box for your strings. Watch your fingers here!
3. Cut down into the middle of both long edges of the lid and bend the cardboard back to create two folds.
4. Then take your string and thread it into the holes you made earlier, make sure you tie secure knots at the ends to stop it unravelling.
5. You can use some spare cardboard from the circle you cut out to create detail underneath your strings. Glue each one down under the strings on the top and the bottom.
6. Glue the top of the cereal box back down and place some glue on each of the flaps you created earlier.
7. Now insert the cardboard tube to make the Ukulele’s handle. The glue needs some time to set but you can use sticky tape to make it extra secure like Ben did.
And there you have it! You’ll be jamming with the best of them and keeping your family’s spirits up with your home made ukulele!
