How to Make a Kaleidoscope
Materials needed:
*1 acrylic mirror (6” X 6”) with adhesive on the back.
*3 pieces of thin smooth cardboard (2”X6”)
cereal boxes work well
cereal boxes work well
*1 petri dish (90mm diameter)
*masking tape (also called craft tape or painters tape)
*assorted materials for filling the petri dish (beads, paper clips, toothpicks, dry pasta, feathers, rubber bands, buttons, etc.)
*tissue paper or wax paper
Cut the mirror into three equal rectangles that are 2” X 6”
(The blue protective coating will be removed later.)
(The blue protective coating will be removed later.)
Cut three pieces of cardboard that are 2” X 6”.
It’s important that the cardboard is smooth and not corrugated.
Cereal boxes work well.
Peel off the backing of one mirror to expose the adhesive side.
Stick this onto one of the pieces of cardboard.
Repeat for the other two mirrors.
Use scissors to trim off any excess cardboard so that you only see the mirrors.
Lay the mirrors face down with a tiny gap between the pieces.
Tape them together on the diagonal.
Turn them right side up.
Peel off the protective blue covering from the mirrors.
Form a triangular prism with the mirrors on the inside.
Tape all of the seams.
Check out how it looks.
Place a long piece of craft tape extending off of each end.
They will curl backwards.
Tape on the top of the petri dish using these curly pieces of tape.
Fold over any long pieces to the inside.
Just don't let them cover the opening.
Fill the petri dish with all manner of stuff
that will tumble around to make the kaleidoscope patterns.
Use a variety of shapes and sizes and don’t overfill.
You want the materials to be able to move so that the patterns change.
Put the petri dish together.
Tape the petri dish closed with a few pieces of tape.
Check to see how it looks.
Add or remove objects until you are happy with it.
Tape all the way around the petri dish to hold it in place well.
Optional: Cut a circle of tissue paper or wax paper
to cover the end of the kaleidoscope.
This gives a nice opaque background to your patterns.
