String phones

Materials You Need:  Paper cups, string 

What You Can Do Together: Using your pencil or sewing needle, carefully pierce a hole in the bottom of each paper cup. Then, thread a piece of string (ideally around 10m to 15m long) through each cup and tie a knot at each end to stop it pulling through. There you have it...your string phone! 

Now it’s time to test it out! Get two kids to take a cup each and stand apart so that the string is pulled tight. Then, one talks into their cup while the other holds their cup to their ear.  Can they hear what's being said? Make sure the kids take it in turns so that both experience talking and listening through the string phone. 

Explain to the youngsters that when they talk into the string phone, they make sound waves which vibrate the cup. These vibrations pass along the string to the other cup, where they are converted back into sound waves - and that's why they can hear each other! 

A man called Alexander Graham Bell made the first ever telephone in 1876. The first words he said through the phone were, "Watson come here, I want you!” 

What Your Child is Learning: This craft activity is a fun way for kids to learn about sound. Youngsters will gain an understanding of the concept of sound waves and discover how, with just a few simple materials, they can make sound travel further!