DIY Pan Pipe from Drinking Straws

6-8 wide drinking straws (smoothie straws or paper straws work well)

Scissors

Tape (masking tape or clear tape)

A ruler for measuring straw lengths

Gather 6-8 wide drinking straws. Wider ones produce a clearer, richer tone than thin ones.

Cut each straw to a different length — start with one at full length, then cut each subsequent one about 1-1.5 cm shorter than the last.

Line them up from longest to shortest on a flat surface.

Tape them together side by side with the tops aligned evenly. The bottoms will create a staircase shape.

Show your child how to blow ACROSS the top of each straw (like blowing across a bottle top, not into it). This takes practice.

Once they can produce a sound, move across the straws to play a scale — low (long straw) to high (short straw).

Try playing "Hot Cross Buns" — just three notes going down. Or experiment freely.

Blowing across a straw is tricky at first. Have your child practice on just one straw before trying the full pan pipe. Angle the airstream downward slightly.

The science: shorter air columns vibrate faster, producing higher pitches. Your child is learning acoustics through play.

Seal the bottom of each straw with tape or clay for a cleaner, louder sound. Open bottoms work but are quieter.

If wide straws aren't available, use regular straws but know the sound will be quieter and harder to produce.

This is a real instrument used in many cultures — Andean pan flutes, Greek syrinx, and Romanian nai. Share that history with your child.