How to Make Your Own Kaleidoscope for Kids
- 1). Draw a 4-inch by 8-inch rectangle on the report cover. Create three lengthwise lines with a ruler on the rectangle, 1 3/8 inches apart.
- 2). Put the report cover on a cutting board and have an adult cut the rectangle out with a utility knife.
- 3). Fold the plastic for the kaleidoscope along each of the lengthwise marks you made. Tape the edge from one end of the plastic to the other.
- 4). Slide the triangular plastic into the paper towel tube. Position the plastic so that it is even with one end of the kaleidoscope tube.
- 5). Make the kaleidoscope tube even with the other end of the triangular plastic. Have an adult cut the cardboard tube by gently inserting the tip of the utility knife into the tube and slicing it all the way around.
- 6). Put the square of plastic wrap over one end of the kaleidoscope. Push the plastic wrap into the triangle 1/4-inch so that the plastic forms a small pocket.
- 7). Take small pinches of beads, shiny decorations and glow in the dark shapes and put them on the plastic wrap within the triangle. Use only three or four small pinches of decorations for the kaleidoscope--using too much will block the light.
- 8). Cover the end of the kaleidoscope with the waxed paper square and smooth it down along the tube over the plastic wrap.
- 9). Put a rubber band around the end of the tube to hold down the plastic wrap and waxed paper.
- 10
Round the corners of the waxed paper and plastic wrap with scissors. - 11
Have an adult poke a hole in the middle of the square of black construction paper with scissors. Place the construction paper square over the other end of the kid's kaleidoscope. Wrap tape around the end of the kaleidoscope tube over the construction paper to hold it in place. Round off the paper's corners with scissors. - 12
Wrap colored masking tape in a spiral over the kaleidoscope to cover the cardboard. - 13
Peel glow-in-the-dark stickers off their backing and decorate the kaleidoscope any way you want. - 14
Put the black end of the kaleidoscope to one eye. Look toward light, such as a bright window or a lamp. Turn the kaleidoscope to watch the shapes move. The plastic triangle inside acts like a mirror, reflecting the colored shapes in the pocket you made. - 15
Turn the lights off or take the kaleidoscope into a dark room after exposing it to light to see the stickers glow.