Chicken Sound Cup

All you need is a piece of string and a plastic cup to make your own noisy, clucking chicken. Suitable for kids aged 4+ with parental supervision

What You Need:

• Plastic cup
• Piece of string (approximately 40cm long)
• Sharp pencil
• Masking tape
• Small piece of damp sponge (optional)

What to do:

1. Have an adult pierce a hoe in the top of the plastic cup using the sharp pencil.
2. Thread the piece of string through the hole and tie a knot at the end so the string wont come back through the hole (as shown in the picture). If you have trouble tying the knot, try wrapping a piece of masking tape around the end of the string to stop it from coming back through the hole.
3. To make your chicken cluck: wrap your wet fingers or a piece of damp cloth (if you have one) around the string near the mouth of the cup, then move your fingers/sponge down the length of the string, holding the cup firmly with your other hand. You need to squeeze the string as you move your fingers (or the sponge) down the length of it. To get the clucking sound, pull the string slightly in a jerky motion as you move your fingers or the sponge down. It might take some practice.
4. You might like to decorate your plastic cup like a chicken using paper, feathers and coloured felt tip pens.

Why is it so?

The vibrations caused by the movement of your fingers (or the sponge) travel along the string and are amplified (made louder) by the hollow cup. Try covering the cup. The vibrations from the string are almost silent. This is an example of how a sounding board works, and pianos and guitars use wooden sounding boards to make their sound louder.