Bottle Organ

  • Half fill a bottle with water and blow across the top.
  • Fill the other bottles to different levels and blow across the top.
  • Tap each bottle with a beater.

Do all the bottles make the same sound?

Which ones have a higher sound?

Rice Drum

  • Put your hand flat on the drum and tap it with your other hand.
  • Pour a little rice on the drum and tap it again.
  • With the rice on the drum, tap it a little bit harder.

When you tap the drum without the rice on what can you feel?

When the rice is on the drum what happens when you tap it?

  • Try again using pasta instead of rice

Is it any different?

Rubber band guitar

  • Stretch a small rubber band and a large rubber band across the top of the box.
  • Pluck the small rubber band with a finger.
  • Now pluck the large rubber band with a finger.

Do both bands sound the same?

What happens to the sound if you use a different box, or a tin?

Triangle

  • One person has the beater and triangle.
  • The rest of the group, turn your back to the triangle holder and close your eyes.
  • When you hear the triangle, put your hand up and keep it up until you cannot hear it any longer, then put your hand down.

Who had their hand up longest?

Were they nearest to the triangle or not?

Does it matter how hard the triangle is struck?

  • Try again with a smaller triangle.

Are the results the same?

Tin Can Telephone

  • In pairs, one person put the open end of the tin can around their ear.
  • The second person, make sure the string is pulled tight, then put the open end of the other tin can and give your partner a secret message. Keep the string very tight all the time.
  • Check whether you have passes your message correctly.

What happens if the string is not tight?

What happens if you do not keep the tin can around your mouth or your ear?

Other activities

Sounds Lotto Game (needs cassette player)

Spinning bug Listening Game

Listening station activity sheets.