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Sight and Sound

Investigate how sound travels by making earphones

This activity works well if the children are able to work in pairs.

To make the earphones:

• Poke a small hole carefully in the bottom of the pot/cup. (This should be done by an adult)
• Decorate the pot/cup.
• Thread one end of the string through the hole of one of the pots from the bottom up so that the string end comes up in the pot/cup.
• Tie the end of the string to a paper clip to prevent the string slipping through the hole.
• Do the same with another pot/cup.
• Ask the children to hold onto their cup and walk away from each other until the string is taught.
• Take it in turns to speak quietly into the cup and listen with the pot/cup held against the ear.
• What happens if the string is not taught?
• Explain how the cup vibrates when you speak into it which makes the string vibrate and then the cup next to the ear which all makes the sound travel.
• Discuss sound with the children.