The medium matraca: 26 cm of bare hand-cut pine that turns a quiet room into a fiesta with one swing. Same open slatted frame and same turned wooden handle as the large model, in a shorter and lighter body that children handle comfortably and that packs easily into a party favor box.

Mexican artisans saw the frame, fit the toothed core and shape the handle by hand, then leave the pine completely raw — no paint, no varnish, no stain. The grain, the knots and the exact pitch of the ratchet differ on every single piece, and the bare wood means you can finish it however you like. Cut and assembled in Mexico.

• Medium model: approximately 26 cm long
• Hand-cut solid pine with a hand-fitted ratchet core
• Natural unfinished wood — unpainted and unvarnished
• Light enough for children to swing comfortably
• No two pieces identical in grain or sound
• 100% made in Mexico

Buy these medium wooden rattles by the handful for party favors, classroom culture lessons, Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo celebrations, posadas, or as the noisy heart of a Mexican-themed table. The raw pine also makes them a ready-made craft base for paint-your-own projects. Abba-Express keeps these matracas in stock in California and ships them across the United States.