Tubes

Be it long, short, smooth, corrugated, stiff or flexible, tubes come in many shapes and sizes and can be used for a variety of activities. Local carpet shops will often give away large carpet tubes on request and these are invaluable for both building and sound-making. Tumble drier venting is a great resource and worth investing in for the many ways it can be used. Plastic piping of all widths can be found in DIY shops and is also extremely versatile.

Carpet Tubes can be used to create environments, either standing alone or lashed together. They provide a cheap resource for building a space and are easy to drill holes in for tying. They look imposing and are smooth and warm to the touch under lighting.

Cutting to prescribed lengths enables tuning, so tubes can be played as instruments, as well as just tapping to give rhythms. Dropping them on the floor or tapping the ends with a bat (or flip-flop) creates sounds and vibrations that can be heard (or felt) by participants nearby.

Hanging on elastic and bouncing on the floor gives a similar percussive effect. Smaller cardboard tubes can be tapped and rolled, looked through, listened or called through, often very useful for one-to-one work with a participant who finds it hard to focus.

The size and weight of these tubes encourage cooperative work and play, through helping each other to lift, roll and tilt them, so work becomes a recognisable social activity.

Tubes and half-pipes are also ideal for 'rolling' activities. Put a ball in one end - it disappears and reappears again at the other - magic!

Flexible Venting is usually white and takes coloured light beautifully, as well as glowing in the dark when lights are put inside. Like cardboard tubing, it can be used for rolling activities, with the advantage that objects that light up can be seen as they move down the pipe.

Venting can link people together and encourage movement. It can be flicked, creating sound and motion, and wriggled and jiggled like a snake. Try making patterns on the floor to navigate or weave through the space to move under and over

It has certain sonic properties; when its corrugated surface is scraped with a stick it sounds washboard or guiro like. Calling through it while moving creates a wah-wah sound. Small whirrers have the same effect