Summer Reading STEAM Idea: DIY Kaleidoscope

Looking for fun ways to use the iREAD summer reading theme, Reading Colors Your World?  Try DIY kaleidoscopes.  Kaleidoscope kits use a mixture of cheap and easy-to-find items such as cardboard tubes and more expensive materials such as mylar or flexible mirrors.  This STEAM project could be an event in a park, in your library or given as a take and make. 

Here are links to different ways to make kaleidoscopes:

Science Works: How to Build a Kaleidoscope
The Ashland Science Works museum has great DYI instructions for a kaleidoscope.  This project uses a toilet paper roll and aluminum foil (or shiny cardstock).  They put translucent beads into a plastic bag and rubber band it to the roll.  This website also explores the science of the kaleidoscope.

Science for Kids: How to Make a Kaleidoscope
This method uses a toilet paper roll and mylar sheets.  The author had children draw on a round piece of paper and uses a straw to attach it to the roll.  She paints her roll to beautify it.  There is a video of her making the kaleidoscope.

DIY Kaleidoscope Craft for Kids
This method uses a paper towel roll and aluminum foil.  The author cuts clear plastic circles from a salad greens lid.  She glues the clear plastic circle to the open end of the paper towel roll.  She inserts translucent beads into the tube and puts the second clear plastic circle into the roll.  Then, she inserts aluminum foil covered cardboard.  To make it look pretty, she attaches a piece of colorful paper onto the paper towel roll with tape.

Pairing STEAM with Stories: 46 Hands-On Activities for Children by Elizabeth McChesney (Ordered from the State Library of Oregon) Kaleidoscopes: page 12-13
This book has directions for a kaleidoscope that only uses mylar glued to cardboard.  The author draws a picture on white paper and tapes it to the kaleidoscope.  This version is simpler than the others because it does not place the mylar in a tube.

Here are my tips after trying several ways to make a kaleidoscope:

1. Cut open a Nespresso sleeve on the long side.  You will have four sections with three folds.  Cut off one of the sections and the ends.  The remaining three sides have two folds and fit perfectly into a Costco paper towel roll.  The size of a Nespresso box is 11" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2".
2. Aluminum foil vs mylar:  I tried dollar-store aluminum foil sheets and more expensive heavy-duty foil.  Neither one worked very well.  It was difficult to find any reflections.  You need to glue down the foil and try not to get any bumps or wrinkles.  Mylar sheets by Vinyl Frog worked really well as a reflective source.  They were self-adhesive and thicker.  It was harder for these sheets to become wrinkly.  Plastic mirrors would give the best reflection.  I did not experiment with mirrors.
3. Beads vs paper: For me, drawing designs on paper worked way better than translucent beads as source of changing colors.  I was really surprised by how well the lines on paper reflected via the mylar.

Check out this Bibliocommons list for recommended books on kaleidoscopes, light, color and sight for children and families.

UPDATE:  ITEMS CLAIMED.  Email me if you would like me to send you leftover supplies.  I have five mylar survival blankets.  Each one measures 87”x 59” and a small batch of translucent beads.  See picture to left.

​Have you made a kaleidoscope at your library?  Please let us know how it went.

Author

Tara Morissette
Library Assistant
Oregon City Public Library
CSD Communications/Web Editor