Kaleidoscope toy. How to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands from paper. Do-it-yourself kaleidoscope - a fairy-tale world behind glass How to make a do-it-yourself kaleidoscope out of paper
Known as the Kaleidoscope Toy or Flexahedron, it was invented years ago by a bored math student. It makes time pass quickly and can provide you with an interesting pastime for several hours. Especially if you made the kaleidoscope yourself. You just need to print the picture, cut off all the white parts of the paper, and follow simple instructions below. Print the image as large as the paper will allow.
Step 1:
We printed two kaleidoscope patterns on the picture. The pattern on the right has lots of extra lines and text on it to help you make a kaleidoscope properly the first time. The one on the left will be the second toy you need to build, and it will look better because it doesn't have any extra printing on it. Once you have folded it correctly, you can use the picture, which has two templates without additional printing.
The first step after cutting out the color design is to fold it carefully along the lines dividing the colors and along the lines connecting the diamond points. Some of the folds will eventually go in and some out, but at this point you are folding the paper back and forth in both directions and making good folds.
Step 2:
Now that the paper is well creased along the fold lines, you can apply a little glue to the first little triangle that says "Glue here."
Step 3:
You can use a toothpick or a small piece of paper or cardboard to spread the glue into a very thin film. Using too much glue will make your DIY kaleidoscope just sloppy and will take a lot longer to dry.
Step 4:
Next, we need to fold the paper so that the blue diamond is connected to the part of the paper that we covered with glue. You can fold the blue diamond in half to make it easier to fit and line up with the paper.
Step 5:
We repeat this process with two other blue diamonds, and we end up with a snake of six tetrahedrons, all hinged together.
Step 6:
The last step is to apply glue to the two tabs at the ends, then carefully insert one end into the other, open end of the snake. Now pinch the closed ends so that the tabs stick to the paper, keeping the snake's tail firmly in the mouth, forming a kaleidoscope toy ring.
Step 7:
Now it is important that the glue is completely dry, since trying to play with the kaleidoscope toy at the moment, it's just to ruin it.
Step 8:
Once the glue is dry, you can start turning the ring inside out by pressing the center from the bottom up and the outside down. The colors will change from one to another as you continue to play with it.
I hope you will repeat this project with your children and teach them how to make their own paper kaleidoscope.
Based on materials from sci-toys.com
Kaleidoscope is one of the favorite fun and toys for children and adults. Today we will tell you how to make it yourself. Let's take as a basis a regular bushing from paper towels. The simplest materials, a little imagination and effort - and a small miracle will be born before your eyes.
The design of a mirror kaleidoscope at first glance seems complicated. It is difficult to understand how intricate patterns are formed in this small tube, which fill all visible space with themselves and their light. In fact, the kaleidoscope is very simple, and even a child can make this toy on his own.
The process of assembling a kaleidoscope will allow children to feel like scientists in their own laboratory - they will clearly enjoy it. Besides, it's very useful. The child will learn to work with scissors and paper and understand the internal structure of a complex toy. Assembling a cardboard kaleidoscope with your own hands will be a wonderful lesson in needlework, physics and logic.
What do we need?
- paper towel roll
- foil cardboard (inside of juice, milk boxes, etc.)
- three transparent plastic disks with a diameter the size of the sleeve hole (can be cut from plastic bottles, plexiglass, etc.)
- black paper (disk the size of the sleeve hole)
- parchment paper (all the same diameter)
- paper and cardboard for decoration
- shiny filler (beads, rhinestones, sequins, small beads)
- scotch
Work progress
First, let's start with the “stuffing” of our kaleidoscope. If you don't have foil cardboard, use regular cooking foil. Just stick it to the cardboard using a glue stick. The length of the shiny cardboard surface should be 2-3 cm shorter than the sleeve (we will place the patterned chamber in it).
Bend the cardboard into an equilateral triangle so that the triangular tube fits evenly into the sleeve. It should not hang loose or fit too tightly. Glue it with tape and place it in the future kaleidoscope. Place the first transparent disk (without a hole) on top.
We pour our decor into the toy (on a transparent disk). Mix beads, large sparkles and other beautiful bright details small size. Cover the container with a circle of parchment paper and a second plastic circle. Secure the structure with tape and glue.
At the other end of the pipe we place one transparent solid disk and a black disk with a hole.
Then the external decoration of the craft is done. Wrap sleeve beautiful paper, color it or glue what you like on it. Ready!
Did you have a kaleidoscope as a child? Remember those fascinating patterns made from colored glass that were never repeated? You've probably always wanted to know how it works? Today we are going to learn how to make a kaleidoscope with our own hands!
What do we need for this?
- a roll of kitchen paper towels (length – 23 centimeters, diameter – approximately 5.3 cm);
- cardboard with a mirror surface;
- multi-colored beads, bugles, sequins;
- transparent plastic disks, 3 pieces (can be made from the lids of sour cream boxes or anything else, round and flat);
- scissors;
- glue or glue stick;
- parchment;
- scotch;
- colored paper for decoration.
We make three strips of mirror cardboard, approximately 21 by 4.3 cm. We glue them into a triangular prism (the reflective side of the cardboard should be inside) and place it inside the roll - the edges on one side should coincide.
We cut out two disks from plastic, glue parchment to one of them so that it turns out matte. The diameter of the disks must match the diameter of the pipe - 5.3 cm. Place the transparent disk on the prism located inside the roll and secure it. We pour beads on top, but not too much - they should easily pour inside the pipe. Place the matte disc on top and secure it with adhesive tape.
Turning the kaleidoscope over. We take a cardboard disk of the same diameter - 5.3 cm, only with a hole in the middle, and the same black disk - for example, made of black paper. We fix them on the second side of the kaleidoscope - first cardboard, then black for the finished look of the product.
We decorate the kaleidoscope as we wish - with patterns made of colored paper, or, for example, with a cuff made of corrugated cardboard to make it more convenient to hold it. All! Our handmade kaleidoscope is ready.
- You can take not mirror cardboard, but, say, small mirrors or computer disks. You can fasten them using paper strips or duct tape. You need to be careful with such a kaleidoscope if you give it to small children so that they don’t drop it.
- Beads or beads can be replaced with pieces of multi-colored plastic, for example, from broken toys, or fragments of colored plastic bottles.
We also suggest watching a video on how to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands:
Do you know that...
- The word “kaleidoscope” comes from the Greek words: “beautiful”, “view”, “look”.
- Its history goes back almost a hundred years. In 1816 it was invented by D. Brewster as a scientific instrument. At first beautiful patterns Only adults were entertained using colored glass, then, gradually, analogues for children appeared, and the device was patented as a children's toy.
- But V.I. Dahl called the kaleidoscope a “pattern”.
- There are various types such devices: chamber, in which patterns are created from pieces of glass and beads; gel or oil, in which patterns are formed from a liquid substance; wheeled - wheels are attached to the end of the tube, which create patterns.
- Watching changing color pictures is very useful for people who are depressed or in creative crisis. The fact is that the variety of constantly changing pictures stimulates the brain very well and activates our creative potential. Well, it gives a strong charge positive emotions, of course!
- Doctors note the powerful psychotherapeutic effect of the kaleidoscope. It helps a person enter a state of deep relaxation, activates areas in the brain responsible for attention, memory, decision-making, and stimulates the imagination. It can even be used in developing the intelligence of children and in the treatment of psychological disorders in adults.
- This one seems to be simple toy It is also used for professional purposes - by designers, weavers, artists, jewelers who create designs for wallpaper, carpets, fabrics, and stained glass.
- Such toys are often collected and bought as gifts.
Children's DIY kaleidoscope master class.
It's not at all difficult to make, let's try...
To do DIY children's kaleidoscope, we need:
Plastic bottle,
Transparent plastic (from sour cream caps, snacks, for example)
Silver cardstock sheet (the colored cardstock set includes a silver cardstock sheet and a gold cardstock sheet)
Colored cardboard for decoration
Scotch tape, glue
Filler (multi-colored glass, beads...)
DIY children's kaleidoscope:
From the middle part plastic bottle cut out a piece of plastic. Roll it into a tube and secure it with tape. We measure the length and diameter of the resulting tube. Mine is 14 cm long and 4.5 cm in diameter.
Take a sheet of silver (mirror) cardboard.
On the draft, draw a circle with a diameter of 4.5 cm (the diameter of the kaleidoscope tube) and enter an equilateral triangle into it. We measure the side of the resulting triangle (3.7 cm).
Now, on back side of mirror cardboard we mark three stripes with a width of 3.7 cm and a length of 12.5 cm (the length of the kaleidoscope tube minus 1.5 cm).
We cut out the resulting rectangle, bend it along two edges, and glue the third with tape. The mirror side should be inside the prism.
Cut out three circles from plastic caps. Two circles are the same diameter as the kaleidoscope body (outer diameter), and one circle is slightly smaller (inner diameter).
We glue one circle with tape from the end of the kaleidoscope.
We insert a “mirror” triangular prism into the body of the kaleidoscope. On one side, the prism rests against a plastic circle, and on the other, it does not reach the edge of the body by 1.5 cm. If it is slightly loose, you can wrap it with a piece of paper. Cover with the smaller plastic circle. It should fit tightly.
We fill the “filling” of the kaleidoscope loosely. This is the main point. Because the beauty of the kaleidoscope pattern depends on the content. Ideally, these are colored glass, but this is a very scarce product. The main rule is transparency, i.e. colored pieces must transmit light. As a filler for the kaleidoscope, you can take transparent beads (except beads), buttons, glass for aquariums (break), empty perfume bottles and caps for them (also break), etc.
Experiment with color combinations.
Having filled in the colored pieces of glass, cover with a second plastic circle and secure with tape. Lightly sand this circle with sandpaper until it becomes matte.
Since this is a children's kaleidoscope, its small parts need to be well insulated.
Cut out two circles from cardboard as shown in the photo. We cut a large hole in one, and a small peephole in the other.
Using tape, we carefully glue the cardboard circles, at the same time insulating the children's kaleidoscope from small parts spilling out. This is what it should look like:
Now we decorate the children's kaleidoscope, as fantasy or its future owner dictates.
Your DIY children's kaleidoscope is ready!
P.S. This master class is intended exclusively for private use; publication and use of it on other sites or forums is possible only with an active link to this page.
