How to Make Oboes With Straws
Fascinating a child is one of the best joys of being an adult. Anytime you can take a household item and turn it into something unexpected is magical entertainment, sure to provoke amazement. Here is a trick to turn a drinking straw into an oboe.
Instructions
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Take a drinking straw and some scissors. Flatten one end of the straw with your teeth or a thumb and forefinger. It doesn't have to be perfectly flat. Have your children do this along with you if they're old enough to use scissors.
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Cut the flattened end on both sides evenly to form a point or reed. Try to make the point longer rather than very short.
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Put the pointed end in your mouth so you cover the reed and blow hard. It should sound like a shrill kazoo. If it doesn't work, experiment by cutting the reed longer or flattening it more. Blow harder or softer and reposition your lips if you still get no sound.
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Make a small hole with the scissors at the midway point of the straw and another about a width of a finger's length down from that. Now play the straw like a recorder or clarinet by manipulating your fingers over the holes to make different notes.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also change the sound by adding another straw to the end by folding and stuffing the first one into the second straw's opening. The longer the straw the deeper the sound.
To introduce a teaching moment, explain to your child how the oboe shows how sound is produced through vibration of the tips of the reed from the force of the air.
