First Note FN150 Firstnote Slide Whistle (Color May Vary)

I'm going to preface this by saying that my reasons for rating this well have nothing to do with durability. I think this is a toy that if left unattended with a very boisterous child could be easily broken any number of ways, either them stepping on it, or using it as a sword or a drumstick. Especially if we're talking about your typical little boy, anything can become a sword or a lightsaber super fast.No, my rating is based on the fact that I'm keeping this up high and closely supervising it. I'm using it to target multiple therapy goals for our son, who has a host of things going on with him that come with global developmental delays and some sensory issues. I think if treated gently, this thing will be durable enough for what we need, and because he's a chewer who likes to run with things he's chewing on sometimes, I consider it a safety risk to leave this alone with him unsupervised.So I'm targeting multiple things with this: acceptance of novel toys, especially sound ones, working on improving his lip strength with the goal of helping him long term be able to produce certain sounds that require pursing and blowing out on the lips (like p and b), working on fine motor, working on imitation, working on following instructions, and working at increasing functional oral use to cut down on chewing.One of the things I love about this is that the slide allows it to produce a lower tone. Because he's sensitive to sound, right now we're starting with the slide out all the way when we blow in it, because the all the way in tone is too high for him to tolerate well at this time and use the toy functionally, and just this week we're finally having success with him blowing in it to produce a sound. I like the way the slide is made, because I think it will allow him to manipulate it when we get to the point where we're working on the fine motor part of this task. And once he's working that and tolerating the higher tones better, we'll up the anti to imitation and holding out the notes longer.I honestly think this is a cool therapy toy. If you are using it for a special needs kiddo with lip strength, imitation, and motor planning struggles you may need to use your fingers in the beginning to help purse their lips to give them the idea of what they should be doing, but I'd fade out the use of that as soon as possible. For our little guy I'm still having to remind him to blow into it to make the sound, but I'm going to be fading that one as soon as I can as well. Right now, I'm super excited because he's starting to be able to produce a whistle tone with this! I also think this toy, if gently cared for, is going to be durable enough. But if you know your kiddos are more "Wrestle Mania" then "Mozart", maybe supervise this one or get them an actual recorder, because those are made of much thicker plastic...

Got this for my daughte'rs birthday. It's plastic but it's pretty well made. The slide handle is brass. Seems like it will be hard t break. For the kids, this one is safer than the all metal ones. There are no sharp edges on this. It's very loud and has a clear sound.If you're musically inclined and take your time with it, you can actually play notes and songs on it. Like playing a fretless stringed instrument, it will take some practice to get your intonation down but this can be a legit musical instrument. As to be expected, given the size of the instrument, it only takes small movements of the slide to hit different notes. I was able to play several songs on it the first day. Easy to play and can sound as goofy as your favorite cartoons with no effort. VERY FUN!

I bought the first note FN150 for my client. My client has down syndrome and he loves it. Every day when he comes home from school and on the weekends I hear him playing it in his room. It gives me great joy that he enjoys it as much as he does. He loves instruments and had put all other instruments to the side just to play this slid whistle. I have to say, it is a very sturdy instrument.I also want to thank Amazon because you have products that is geared for this population. 9 Yrs ago I bought a ball for my client with autism. He loved it so much that he still twirled it today. My autistic client can't connect with people or things, but he had connected with this ball that he is so unhappy if he can't find it, but once found and he sees it his whole face lights up and he perks up. Thank you Amazon for brining lots of joy to this very special population through your products.

We got this for a sound effect, and it's PERFECT! Great fun and great sound.

I bought this as a prop for a skit in one of my college classes. That, and I've always really fancied the slide whistle and thought I could get a nice sound with it--maybe even make some tunes! For under $5 and with FREE shipping, this was an ABSOLUTE steal.Pros:Sounds great and plays well. It was also a lot bigger than I expected, and I was extremely pleased with that.Cons:You have to blow a little softer for the really low notes and there's a certain point in the extremely high notes where it just becomes a squeal. Haha.Overall, for the price and sound--this was perfect. I am extremely pleased and will be upgrading to a metal one in the future!

The media could not be loaded. Don’t listen to the 1-star reviews! This thing is great!

We received a blue whistle. Everything was fine with the product and packaging. The whistle body is plastic and the slide is metal. It's very easy to use and our 3 year has enjoyed having it. It has the classic slide whistle sound, although not quite as crisp and clear as vintage whistles. It seems like there is just a slight bit of air "leakage" which prevents the whistle from sounding really crisp. It was a stocking stuffer for our daughter this past Christmas, and it is holding up well. She plays with it at some point almost everyday when she pretends to be in a marching band. If you have any questions about the product, feel free to ask and I will answer best I can. Thanks.SPO

This thing is well worth the money. I was shocked when my son put it on his Christmas list, and I think my wife and I have had more fun with it than he has! haha.