Create a basic model of the eye, then get into it and use it as a pinhole theater. Learn more about your detector - they eye - by modeling it!
The Exploratorium's write-up of the pinhole theater is here: http://www.exo.net/~emuller/activities/personal_pinhole.pdf
When you drop fingernail polish on water it spreads out creating an oil like slick that you can save. The colors come from thin film interference.
You can create bands of color using soap film and black containers (like film containers).
Soap Bubbles can take on different shapes changing the ratio of surface area to volumen.
A piece of pipe will resonate and produce a sound based upon its length. Create your own set of palm pipes with music.
This describes how to use the palm pipe and what it has to do with LIGO.
A balloon and a pipe can create a bagpipe-like sound.
A straw, cut so the tip acts as a reed, produces pitches based upon the length.