Make a spinning optical toy that blends two drawings into one! This thaumatrope (or mini-movie) is a fun and simple way to explore the illusion behind movies and animation. With just a few supplies, kids can create, spin, and repeat the fun—no pattern needed. Great for home or group craft time with a bit of prep from a grown-up.
Depending upon the ages and abilities of the children, pre-cut 1½" circles from the cardstock—one or more for each child. Use a compass or small lid to accurately trace the circle. Use a hole punch if you have one that cuts circles between 1½" and 2". You can cut squares with a paper trimmer, but circles work best.
On one side of the circle, draw a cloud, and on the other side, draw a lightning bolt. Color the images with pencils, crayons or markers. Make the background sky blue.
Other design possibilities for the two images are a bird and a birdcage; cut flowers and a vase; two words; an airplane and a runway, or two balloons. Use your imagination to think of two images that, when combined, will make an interesting new image. Small rubber stamps, pictures cut from old magazines, and clip art are other sources of images.
Tip: If your images have an up and down component, they need to be lined up with one of the images upside-down or the magical illusion won't work properly.
Use the tip of your scissors (or an awl or eighth-inch hole punch) to punch two holes on opposite sides of the circle—left and right.
Cut two lengths of string about 10" long. Thread a piece of string through one hole and tie the ends together to form a loop. Repeat for the other hole.
Spin the disk by twirling the strings between the thumb and index finger of each hand. Like magic, the lightning bolt and cloud appear together.
How does it work?
Your eye holds the image of a thing for a split second after it is gone. So after the cloud disappears,
its image is still in your eye when the lightning bolt appears. You see both images together. Movies work in
much the same way, with one still frame after another being superimposed in your eye to create the illusion of motion.
That's it! Now give your
thaumatrope a spin!
Tip: When images have an up and down component, one of them must be upside-down on the reverse side. This mini-movie was made using clip art with the bird upside-down on the back and the cage right-side-up on the front.
Tip: If the strings are attached at the top and bottom, both images can be right-side-up; however, twirling will be more difficult.
