We found these bamboo drinking straws in the clearance bin at a local supermarket. I thought they were a great find in general for use as a straw, but then we thought we'd try making flutes out of them.
We rolled up sandpaper to smooth out the holes after they were cut and put a wad on bees wax in the bottom of the flute to block it. The girls just spaced all the holes in whatever way they wanted. It was definitely an experiment in how it would sound with the holes in random places and different sizes. There are instructions online for making a toned accurate flute, but we were just playing around.
We also experimented with the angle at the top. The one that worked best was the slant on the opposite side of the lip, like a Japanese shakohachi. This activity is not those without patience. It look quite a bit of effort to get this to sound like a flute. I would definitely recommend 7 and over and make sure a child can first get a good sound off of a glass bottle before trying this.
These were inspired by small bamboo flutes found in every little souvenir shop in Japan. It would be fun to decorate with paper like this as well. Also, check our amazon store for lots of bamboo flutes!
