DIY kaleidoscope: cardboard craft for children. Do-it-yourself kaleidoscope - a fairy-tale world behind glass How to open a kaleidoscope and replace the pebbles

The game of unpredictability, diversity and fleetingness of kaleidoscope patterns is the very embodiment of creativity, when breathtaking Beauty is born from ordinary and simple objects. Today we will tell you how to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands.

The play of mirror patterns of a kaleidoscope has always fascinated people. The variety of options for fleeting pictures in a kaleidoscope stimulates our brain and gives us a powerful charge positive emotions and activates our creativity.

The kaleidoscope is not just a children's toy, it is used in the work of designers to create new designs for fabrics, wallpaper, and carpet weaving.

The ability of the kaleidoscope to activate our imagination is used not only in creativity, but also in the treatment of sexual disorders and for the development of children's intelligence.

Doctors note the powerful psychotherapeutic effect of the kaleidoscope. It promotes deep relaxation, stimulates the decision-making area of ​​the brain, memory and attention.

The history of the kaleidoscope goes back almost 100 years, and at first it was entertainment for adults. Then kaleidoscopes for children appeared. But the inquisitive children's mind was occupied not only by the play of patterns, but also by the question of what was inside the kaleidoscope.

Today we will find out for sure.

How to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands materials:

  • Empty reel from under paper towels length 23 cm, diameter 5.3 cm;
  • Cardboard with foil, the inside of milk cartons;
  • Small shiny or colorful objects (such as beads, clear stones, etc.)
  • Three clear plastic discs (plexiglass, plastic from gift wrappers);
  • Adhesive pencil;
  • Scotch;
  • Black paper;
  • Parchment paper;
  • Paper for kaleidoscope design.

Now that you have made a kaleidoscope with your own hands, you can enjoy these magical patterns for hours. Moreover, as we now know, this is not at all a useless exercise.

How to make a kaleidoscope that will mesmerize every child with your own hands, and a few other materials, read our article with a detailed master class.

Kaleidoscope is a toy that can keep a child occupied for a long time. Surely you yourself remember how, as a child, you twirled this “spyglass” in your hands and watched the amazing patterns that appeared and were symmetrically reflected inside the toy with every turn. Surprisingly, the first kaleidoscope was invented back in 1816 by David Brewster. Brewster worked on optical instruments, but the kaleidoscope became his most famous invention.

We invite you to amuse your child and make a kaleidoscope for him with your own hands; besides, you will always find the basis for it at home. This will captivate your child and he will always have it.

The peculiarity of the kaleidoscope that we offer you to make from paper is that it does not have a bottom, or rather a lens. Many of you may be saying, “Wait! But the whole point of a kaleidoscope is in the day?!” Yes, partially. Perhaps this paper craft does not deserve the name kaleidoscope, but through it you will be able to see everything around you in a completely different way. In addition, we have collected interesting recommendations, what kind of bottom can be chosen for this kaleidoscope craft.

To make a paper kaleidoscope with your own hands, you will need:

For the main part:

  • Mylar sheets or highly reflective silver paper
  • - bushing from toilet paper
  • Stationery knife, cutting mat
  • Double-sided adhesive tape/tape
  • Decorative paper

For lens (bottom):


How to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands at home

To figure out what size Mylar sheets you need for your kaleidoscope, practice with a regular sheet of paper. All dimensions indicated below in the master class are very approximate and are not suitable for all cardboard tubes. The reflective part should fit tightly inside, so you need to select it carefully and independently.

If you are using reflective paper, be sure to stick reverse side to the walls of the tube, and the reflective side is directed inside the figure. Use the most reflective material you can find. Foil will not work here. If you can't find Mylar sheets, buy reflective paper from scrapbooking stores. There may be some kind of pattern on it, but this does not matter - the main thing is that it is silver.

Step 1(optional). Decorate the outside of the pipe. Cover the future kaleidoscope with colored paper for beauty using double-sided tape. You can skip this step if you don't care what the outside of the kaleidoscope looks like.

Step 2. Cut a piece of Mylar. It should match the length of the tube (approximately 10 cm).

Step 3. Mark and cut the Mylar sheet as follows for the desired interior shape:

  • Circular kaleidoscope. Cut a wide piece of Mylar (10cm) equal to the diameter of the tube. Roll the paper into a circle and insert it into cardboard sleeve. Secure the ends of the Mylar using a piece of double-sided tape.
  • Triangular kaleidoscope. Mark a 10cm piece of Mylar into thirds, 3.65cm apart. Glue the triangle together and thread it through the kaleidoscope tube.
  • Square kaleidoscope. Make 4 marks on a sheet of Mylar and glue the shape together. Insert a cardboard tube.



How to look through a kaleidoscope: 3 simple ideas

So, given that your DIY kaleidoscope doesn't initially have a bottom, here are some suggestions for how you can look without a lens.

Colored patterned paper. Glue several layers of colored paper to the window and let your child look at it through a homemade kaleidoscope.


Thermomosaic. If you are not yet familiar with it, you should look for it in a children's store or a craft store. Having bought everything you need, let the child lay out the drawing, and you iron it out. You can also use disks for a kaleidoscope, then the process of making a kaleidoscope at home will turn into an interesting game.

You can make several or thermomosaics and apply them one by one to the kaleidoscope. Just spin the dials and look through the kaleidoscope.


Drawings. Oil and watercolor paintings attached to windows are also great for a kaleidoscope. Also, children can simply walk around the house and look at all the objects with unusual special effects.


Children will really like this interesting kaleidoscope craft, because beautiful patterns and the bizarre figures simply cannot leave anyone indifferent.

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 inward and some outward, 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

How to make a kaleidoscope with your own hands (master class)

It has been proven that 15 minutes of looking at pictures in a kaleidoscope has a relaxing effect, comparable in healing to 5 minutes of healthy laughter. Looking at the patterns is fascinating...


Many people wonder: how to make a kaleidoscope yourself? It seems that it is difficult, but in reality it is not at all so!

By the way, the first kaleidoscope was created in 1817. It was created by Scottish physicist David Brewster. And although many years have passed since the creation of this toy, the principle of operation and structure of the kaleidoscope have remained the same.

You can make a kaleidoscope at home quite quickly.

To create a kaleidoscope we will need:

  • A tube made of thick cardboard (a package of Pringles chips, an empty paper towel reel, or rolled cardboard are ideal as a cylinder for a kaleidoscope). This will be the basis of the future kaleidoscope.
  • Three mirror plates. You can cut out plates from CDs, or stick foil onto three strips of cardboard.
  • 4 discs, cut to exact size. Three disks should be transparent, and one should be matte.
  • Pieces of broken multi-colored glass. To prevent glass from getting into your eyes, break the glass by covering it with a cloth.
  • Scissors, tape, paper or fabric for decorating a kaleidoscope craft.

You need to start with the most important detail - a triangular mirror prism. It consists of three rectangular mirror glasses, identical in size.

We glue three mirror plates onto the tape with a gap of 1 mm. Sometimes an SLR camera is made from five plates, but usually three plates are enough. We connect the strips into a triangle with the mirror side inward.

We place the resulting prism inside the tube, the prism should be 1 cm shorter than the tube.

At the other end of the cylinder you need to insert a cut out of transparent plastic 3-4 mm thick circle. To keep it in place, press it with a thick cardboard hoop. The hoop is inserted tightly, but without glue. A cover should be placed on this end of the cylinder that allows diffused light to pass through, i.e. The disc should be matte, so it should be covered with parchment paper or rubbed with sandpaper.

A space is created between the matte and transparent discs. Let's call it the "pattern camera". In this “chamber” put pieces of red, blue, green and yellow glass, transparent pieces of colored plastic, narrow strips of black cardboard. Don’t get carried away with quantity; the pattern turns out beautiful when there are not so many details.

On the other side, pressing it to the prism, glue a cardboard circle (inspection hole) with a round hole cut out in its center with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm. This is the front end of the kaleidoscope.

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 a regular paper towel roll as a basis. 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!

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