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Showing posts from January, 2013

Easy Kaleidoscope

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This kaleidoscope is easy to make and kid friendly since it doesn't involved any sharp (or expensive) materials like mirror pieces.  Chances are you will already have the following materials: sheet of transparency paper paper towel tube foil transparent and colorful beads a sheet of colorful construction paper glue or tape scissors a ruler a pen or marker Use the pen to mark three dots 1 3/8" apart from each other. Use the dots as a guideline to fold a triangular prism (lengthwise). Trim off the extra of the transparency sheeting, leaving a small overhang.  Tape along the overhang to secure the prism into place.  Make sure that the folds in the transparency sheet are nice and crisp so an equilateral triangle is formed. Wrap foil around the prism, shiny side facing inward.  This piece will function as a mirror. Insert the prism into the tube.  It should fit slightly loose.  If it's too snug, the triangle shape wil

Magnetic Marble Run

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If you have an old chalk board or white board that is magnetic, creating a marble run from recycled materials is really simple.   Cut plastic, or even cardboard, tubing in half lengthwise to create the basic "ramp" for the marbles. Hot glue magnets on the back so each ramp will stick to the chalk board. To create a "pinwheel" within a tube, use a small nail to poke two holes opposite each other in a short length of tube. Cut a piece of straw slightly smaller than the diameter of the tube and use short pieces of masking tape to create "spokes." Two strips of tape make two spokes. Secure the straw inside the tube by stringing it on to a short piece of skewer affixed into the two nail holes. As the marble falls vertically, the pinwheel will spin. Attaching several magnets to the a piece of flexible, foam tube will allow you to create different curves. A magnet attached to a plastic cup