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	Crowing Rooster

This is a favorite with the boys! It is a neckerchief slide, makes a sound like a crowing rooster, and can be used for a game of "Catch It".

Ahead of time, make two small holes in the bottom of the cup. Two 2" nails driven 3/8" apart into a 1" board works well. Cut the heads off the nails. Heat the nails on the stove (the wood stays cool enough for handling). Make holes in cups until nails cool off, then heat them up again.

1. Cut cocks comb with scissors (sheers). You can make two at once by cutting as shown below.
2. Cut V beak from felt. You can make two at once by cutting as shown below.
3. Put string through both holes in bottom of cup from the outside.
4. Make one end long and one short.
5. Tie the ends together as far inside the cup as you can. Before the knot is tight, you can use a finger to push the knot further inside the cup.
6. Trim off the short string.
7. Tie sponge to long end of string. Trim off excess string.
8. Draw eyes with the marker or glue wobble eyes in place first. This will make it easier to place the beak.
9. Glue the beak in place. The beak can be slightly folded (like an upside down "U") to make it more rigid. If you use two beaks, it will look like his beak is open - a bit more realistic!
10. Glue on cocks comb.
11. Roughen up the back of the rooster with sandpaper and glue on the PVC ring.

  

To make it crow like a rooster, get the sponge damp. Hold the sponge in one hand while holding the rooster (cup) in the other. Grab the string near the cup with the sponge. The sponge should wrap around the string. Now pull down on the sponge. The string will be pulled through the sponge making it vibrate. These vibrations are amplified by the cup. Try varying the speed of pulling on the string to make different sounds. With a little practice, you can make it sound real good!

You can also make this using a larger cup, you might even be able to find yellow cups.

Once my den made about 100 of these and donated them to a local children's hospital. The kids loved them!

Crowing

Cackling

To play "Catch It" turn the cup so that the opening is up, swing the sponge in the air and try to make it land in the cup.

Parrot

Materials	Tools
3 oz plastic cup 2 1/2" x 7" red felt 2 Wobble Eyes 15 mm Yellow craft foam 3' string Small piece of sponge PVC ring	Hot Glue Scissors Black Pen

Once I was asked to do neckerchief slides for a Twilight Camp. The theme was pirates. I modified the rooster to look like a parrot. Now you must understand that this parrot spent a lot of time around the chickens on board the pirate ship, so it learned how to crow just like a rooster (amazing!). But it can also say other things just like a parrot with a little help from a ventriloquist friend. Ahoy, mate!

Use either a black permanent marker or ballpoint pen.

• Tie the string through the holes and tie on the sponge.
• Hot glue the PVC ring to the cup.
• Cut a piece of green (or red) felt about 2" in diameter and hot glue it to the bottom part of the cup (top of the parrots head).
• Cut it to the correct size using sharp scissors.
• Then cut a piece of felt 2 1/2" x 5" and attach it to the sides of the cup by first hot gluing it at the top and then the bottom of the cup.
• Trim the top and bottom of the felt to fit the cup.
• Hot glue 15 mm wobble eyes on opposite the PVC ring.
• Then cut out a beak from craft foam and draw the mouth on it with a permanent black marker. Hot glue it between the eyes.

Copyright © 2001 Vincent Hale