How To Make a Ceramic Aztec Animal Flute

This is an excellent parent-child project that produces--with some practice--a homemade flute like those the ancient Aztecs used. It is inexpensive and fun, requires little equipment, yet sounds like a real instrument.

What You’ll Need:

Modeling clay that air- or kiln-dries. A 5-pound box--enough to make six flutes--costs about $3.50 at Aaron Brothers Art Mart.

Small kitchen knife, such as a steak knife.

A couple of ice-cream bar sticks (also sold as children’s craft sticks)

Chopstick or bamboo skewer

Cup or bowl of water

Newspaper to cover the work area

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1. Using the knife, cut a piece of clay about 2 inches by 2 inches by 3 inches. If it is hard to work with, knead it with water-moistened hands to soften it. Form the clay into an elongated ball.

2. Cut the ball in half lengthwise with the knife. Use the ice-cream stick to scoop out the insides, leaving shells no more than 1/4-inch thick. With moistened fingers, smooth the insides. Keep the scooped-out clay.

3. Reattach the two halves, using moistened fingers to seal the seam until it is invisible. Use the reserved clay to add simple animal features to the ball--a turtle is easy, but birds, pigs and other animals work fine. The animal must have a stubby tail, 1- to 1 1/2-inches long, attached at one end of the ball toward the bottom. Again, seal the seams with wet fingertips. Let the animal dry on its back for 45 minutes to an hour.

4. Flatten the under side of the flute a bit by pressing it down gently on the work surface. Using the ice-cream stick, press out a rectangular hole about 1/2-inch long by 1/4-inch wide on the under side just inside the body cavity toward the tail. Remove excess clay.

5. Again using the ice-cream stick, make a horizontal slit through the tail, angling the stick so that it comes out just at the top of the rectangular hole at the other end. Pull stick through, remove any excess clay bits, and make sure slit is clear. The idea is that when you blow through the tail, the air will pass through the rectangular hole, much like in a conventional whistle.

6. Blow hard through the tail. You should hear a tone, but don’t worry if it doesn’t work at first. You might need to check the angle or thin the clay around the hole. You can also do it over, using moistened fingers to press the tail closed again, or cover and reshape the rectangular hole if it has grown misshapen. The tone also will improve as the clay dries. Once you have a tone, use the chopstick to poke two to four finger holes in the top of the animal’s body to make different notes. Let the flute dry overnight.