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Before the advent of video games and other electronic geegaws, kids were pretty much left to their own devices. Recapture some of the spirit of those golden childhood days, while salvaging from nature's scrap pile, by whittling a fallen willow twig into a whistle that makes a shrill, piercing tweet. We've taken an excerpt from The Daring Book for Girls (2007, HarperCollins), a how-to manual for girls in the know by Miriam Peskowitz, to bring you the 101:
Making a Willow Whistle
An 8-inch straight, smooth, round willow twig
A Swiss Army knife
Water
1. Find a willow twig that is straight and round, without any side branches, less than an inch thick, and about 8 inches long.
2. Using your Swiss Army knife, cut one end of the willow twig at an angle to make the mouthpiece. Then cut just the end of the pointy tip off to make it a little blunt.
3. On the top side of the twig, the side opposite your angled cut, carve a small notch in the willow, starting just past the point where your angled cut ends. Just more than halfway down, cut a ring around the twig, taking care to cut just the outer layer of bark and not all the way through the wood.
4. Wet the twig (from the ring to the mouthpiece) with water, tap it gently with your knife to loosen the bark, and then carefully twist and pull the bark off. Try not to rip, tear, or break the bark, because you'll need to put it back on the twig. Dunk it in water to keep it moist until you need it again.
5. Go back to the notch you made on the top side of the twig, make it deeper, and cut it some more so that it extends down the length of the twig towards the end that still has bark on. The length and depth of this notch is what determines the pitch of your whistle. Carve off just a sliver of wood from the upper surface of the mouthpiece to make it totally flat.
6. Dip the bark-less end of your twig into a glass of water and slip the bark back on. Now all you have to do is blow! It may take a few tries or alterations to get it right, but keep at it and you'll have your willow whistle blowing.
Tip: A dried-out willow whistle can be revived with a thorough soaking in water, but you might want to keep it wrapped in a damp towel so that it doesn't dry completely.
2007 © HarperCollins Publishers
Difficulty level: Moderate
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