Squawkers - making the chicken string thing

Occasionally I get requests for games and toys to be dredged from the bottom of my play-memory. Nerevised asked:

I am wondering if you can help me. I have a vague recollection from when I was a child, of making something I called a Chicken String. It had something to do with an upside-down styro-foam cup and a piece of string threaded through in someway, so that when you pulled the string it made a Cluck Cluck Cluck noise just like a chicken. Whenever I try and describe my Chicken String to anyone, they look at me like I am crazy. Are you able to shed any light on this item, or am I destined to be a Chicken String Nutter for the rest of my life?

Worry not Nerevised, you are not alone. As a small child I was entertained by such a contraption rustled up at some family doo by one of my growling scottish extended clan. Today I’ve been reverse engineering from memory and now you can all make your own. And it’s one of those impromptu playthings for making at formal meals when the speeches are starting to drag for you and the bairns.

You will need
a plastic or poly-styrene cup, both seem to work but give a little different sound
a cocktail stick or mangled fork
a piece of string (the fuses from party-poppers might be available - if not, always carry string in you DJ like a true play-pro)
water
ways to decorate the cup - shredded red napkin for a comb, a purloined pen from a grateful great-aunt

Poke two holes 1cm apart in the top of the cup, get the kids to thread the string through and tie so that the sting dangles down when you invert the cup. See if it works before decoration, and this is the bit that it took me ages to re-engineer; dip fingers in the water then pinch the string and pull down, letting the string jump through your grasp. After a couple of attempts you and the bairns should be able to make it go ‘cluck-cluuckk-cluck’. Decorate with whatever you can salvage from the table.

I’ve also put together The Clucking String Thing Instructions if you need to print them.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 5up, makes