I have a bunch of optical toys around, but I haven’t made any since I was a kid.
There are many ways to make a kaleidoscope. Some are quite fancy, made of metal or wood, with fine pieces of colored glass and precise mirrors. Others are quite simple, letting the user turn anything they look at into interesting patterns.
We’ll start in the middle. This video show how to make a basic kaleidoscope with things you might have around the house. It goes beyond the basic tube with mirrors to add a disc of colored plastics.
It’s creative and scientific at the same time, and a great project to do whether you have kids around or not.
