How to Make a Slide Whistle

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Build a homemade musical instrument with your kids with just a few supplies. The kids and I made a slide whistle out of a PVC pipe and an extra long eye bolt.

How to Make a Slide Whistle:

To make this easy homemade musical instrument, I got a piece of PVC pipe for 99 cents at the hardware store. I also picked up the longest eye bolt I could find.

I cut the PVC pipe down to be just an inch or two longer than the bolt. You can cut it with a saw very easily.  They also make PVC cutters if you cut pipes often.

Funny side story… Before I cut the pipe in half, my 5-year-old was trying to play with the whistle. It was too long for him, so he got creative!  He stuck his bog toe into the hole of the bolt to play the whistle!  I laughed so hard when i saw it! I love his inventiveness.

Once the pipe is cut small enough, you will need to wrap a layer of tape around the bolt. This will make the hole tight enough to seal it and make a whistling sound when blown.

Next, decide how to decorate your slide whistle!  We decorated ours with colored stripes of Duck Tape.

Slide the bolt into the pipe, and blow over the hole to whistle. To make different tones, slide the bolt up and down while blowing.

This slide whistle is a LOT of fun to play around with! My son is trying to figure out how to play a few songs on it.

We have done some other homemade musical instruments in the past.

See my Homemade Musical Instruments, post.  Also visit my Homemade Bead Drums post!

From others: Homemade Kazoo: Handmade Kids Art, Jingle Sticks & Rain Sticks: Danya Banya, Quick & Simple Musical Instruments: Little bins for Little Hands,