• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

Little Bins Members

Little Bins for Little Hands

Simple Science and STEM for Every Day

Header Right

  • STEM
    • Jr Engineer
    • Coding
    • STEM CHALLENGES
  • Science Activities
    • Earth Sciences
      • Geology
      • Space
      • Ocean
      • Weather
    • Chemistry
    • Physics
  • Seasonal
    • Fall
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Winter
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Spring
    • St Patricks Day
    • Easter
    • Earth Day
    • Summer
    • 4th of July
  • Art
    • Famous Artists
    • Process Art
      • 10+ Easy Homemade Paint Recipes For Kids
  • Slime
  • LEGO
  • Shop
  • Join
    • Little Bins Club
    • Library Club

Mobile Menu

  • STEM
    • Jr Engineer
    • Coding
    • STEM CHALLENGES
  • Science Activities
    • Earth Sciences
      • Geology
      • Space
      • Ocean
      • Weather
    • Chemistry
    • Physics
  • Seasonal
    • Fall
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Winter
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Spring
    • St Patricks Day
    • Easter
    • Earth Day
    • Summer
    • 4th of July
  • Art
    • Famous Artists
    • Process Art
      • 10+ Easy Homemade Paint Recipes For Kids
  • Slime
  • LEGO
  • Shop
  • Join
    • Little Bins Club
    • Library Club

How To Make A Kaleidoscope for Kids

Learn how to create a kaleidoscope for summer STEAM. This STEAM activity for young kids encourages the sense of sight! We spent a fun morning designing and crafting our DIY kaleidoscope for kids. This kid’s kaleidoscope uses every component of STEAM to create a cool, homemade science toy.

HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE KALEIDOSCOPE FOR KIDS!

Make a simple kaleidoscope for kids summer STEM activity

WHAT IS STEAM?

Everyone is buzzing about STEAM!  That is… Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. These 5 areas of learning are so wonderfully intertwined and offer amazing learning opportunities for kids of all ages. Read more about it here.

STEAM encourages kids to think bigger, do bigger, create bigger, and imagine bigger. Really to think outside the box, test drive the world, and solve problems. This DIY kaleidoscope activity does just that!

Simple Kaleidoscope for Kids Outdoor play activity

DIY KALEIDOSCOPE

I chose to make a kaleidoscope for the sense of sight, but I had no idea where to begin. A bit of searching led me to find several ideas where I would need to purchase items like prisms, glass, plastic etc. Hmm, not going to work for us!

I wanted to use what I had for a simple kaleidoscope perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and even early elementary age kids. I found a very helpful idea here that served as a guide. You can find simple step by step directions similar but slightly different from mine below.

HOW TO MAKE A KALEIDOSCOPE

YOU WILL NEED:

  • Pringles can {without chips}
  • Shimmery scrap-book paper or aluminum foil
  • Hammer and nail
  • Clear glue
  • Tissue paper, glitter, and sequins

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges? 

We have you covered…

Click below to get your quick and easy STEM challenges. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Kaleidoscope Simple Kaleidoscope Shimmer Paper Punching Hole

STEP 1:  Get started on your simple kaleidoscope right away!  If you are going to make a Pringles can kaleidoscope, remove chips {eat of necessary}, rinse, and dry the can!

STEP 2:  Roll a piece of shimmery silver paper and put it inside the can. Mark and cut off excess. I did not have to tack it down as it uncurled nicely to fit the inside the can.

STEP 3:  Cover the outside of the can with a colored paper.  We used  a shimmery purple paper {or you can paint it!} and secured it with tape. Decorate if you like with markers, stickers, tape, and other embellishments!

STEP 4:  Use a hammer and nail to punch an eye hole in the sealed end of the can.

Kaleidoscope Simple Kaleidoscope Sequins Pringle can Kaleidoscope

STEP 5:  Glue sequins on the inside of the Pringle’s can lid.  Then add glitter and colorful paper or other embellishments.

Kaleidoscope Simple Kaleidoscope Applying Glitter Glue and tissue paper to pringles can lid

I mixed clear glue with a bit of water and glitter, lots of glitter. We tore and cut tissue paper to glue to the outside of the lid.

Kaleidoscope Simple Kaleidoscope making contact sheet lens with tissue paper

Your simple kaleidoscope needs one more thing, A second colorful lens!

STEP 6:  For this you want to use clear contact paper. I cut a square and taped it sticky side up to the table. He added a little bit of everything. I pressed another piece of contact paper over the top to seal it.

STEP 7:  Use scissors and cut the contact paper to fit your can. You will be putting the lid on over this, so make sure it is a close fit.

Next you want to glue it to the top of can. Our regular Elmer’s glue worked fine.

It’s very important to let everything dry really well. Put the lid on your simple kaleidoscope and head outside.

USING YOUR HOMEMADE KALEIDOSCOPE

Twist the lid as you point the kaleidoscope up towards the sun. The fixed lens underneath the lid stays in place while the outside lid spins around it mixing all sorts of shimmering colors! The brighter the light the cooler it looks. We tested this of course!

NOTE: Please help your child and never encourage looking directly into the sun.

KALEIDOSCOPE FOR KIDS

Since we didn’t have a prism or mirrors for our kaleidoscope, our science lesson was pretty basic. We discussed the reflection of light. When the light comes in, it bounces off the shimmery paper and is reflected back out in the direction it came in. This creates the colors and patterns.  He pointed out all the colors he could see as he twisted the lid.

Make a simple kaleidoscope for a summer STEAM or STEM activity. Light science with a kids kaleidoscope building project.

EASY DIY KALEIDOSCOPE KIDS CAN MAKE FROM THE RECYCLING BIN!

Simple ways to take STEM outdoors. Click on the link or on the photo below.

 

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges? 

We have you covered…

Click below to get your quick and easy STEM challenges. 

Previous Post: « 3 in 1 Flower Activities For Preschoolers
Next Post: Fizzy Dyeing Easter Eggs For Kids »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sue Lively

    June 5, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    So cool Sarah! I love the spinning lid idea and we just happen to have a pringles can at home. I think this is our project for today (it’s raining – perfect!)

  2. Emma

    June 5, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    I had no idea it could be so easy to make a kaleidoscope!

  3. littlebins

    June 5, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    I know right Emma. I had no idea either. Although I would love to try one with a prism but this is still so cool.

  4. littlebins

    June 5, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Thank you! It works out pretty well. I am not crafty and even I could show my son how to do it!

  5. Ana

    June 5, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    I love it!

  6. Anne

    June 5, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    Love the process for adding the sparkle to the kaleidoscope. We made these at preschool the other day and this tutorial would have made them so much better!

  7. Leslie

    June 6, 2015 at 6:03 am

    Such a cool, cool idea! 🙂 Love how colorful and fun it turned out!

  8. Pat Mersch

    June 7, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    I want ideas for retired residents for crafting projects, that stimulate and encourage them to think out of the box.

  9. Dr Darren Garside

    May 22, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    I have to point out that this is a potentially dangerous concept. Pointing objects at the sun and exposing young retinas to direct light is risky with huge potential downsides. Even if well-made the object is risky; if poorly constructed it could be downright dangerous. The site’s owners need to have very high public liability insurance!

  10. littlebins

    May 23, 2016 at 7:31 am

    Thank you for your feedback. It is noted that kids should not look directly into the sun.

  11. Shreya

    June 1, 2016 at 9:31 am

    This helped my young brother a lot and made him interested in doing more such projects developing his skills and knowledge

  12. Ayush

    December 28, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    Very easy to make

  13. Roberta McLean

    January 16, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    I do summer crafts with kids at my church. I have been looking for a project just like this for them. Age perfect!

  14. littlebins

    January 17, 2018 at 10:43 am

    Awesome! Have fun!

Trackbacks

  1. It is so simple to make a Kaleidoscope for kids that you won’t believe – WhizKidsLab says:
    December 27, 2017 at 3:34 am

    […] Source: https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/how-to-make-a-simple-kaleidoscope-for-kids/ Posted in: 7 – 11 Years Old, Science […]

  2. Best STEM Activities, STEM Challenges and Ideas for Kids All Year! says:
    January 7, 2018 at 8:47 am

    […] Make a Kaleidoscope […]

  3. STEAM activities for kids - The Life of a Crafty Homeschool Mom says:
    February 5, 2018 at 10:16 am

    […] How To Make A Simple Kaleidoscope for Kids by Little Bins for Little […]

  4. 20 Spring Activities for Kids-Enjoy the weather! says:
    February 26, 2018 at 10:36 am

    […] How to Make a Simple Kaleidoscope for Kids from Little Bins for Little Hands is a great STEM activity to encourage sense of […]

  5. Making Rainbows STEM Activities and Projects for Kids Spring Science says:
    March 16, 2018 at 8:48 am

    […] Homemade Kaleidoscope […]

  6. 50 Fun Summer Activities for Kids in 2018 | Maninaki says:
    June 6, 2018 at 10:48 am

    […] if you want something different to do with your kids! If they are the crafty type, here is a fun guide to show you how to make […]

  7. Kids Summer Crafts To Pass The Time and Have A Blast says:
    June 7, 2018 at 9:25 am

    […] Kaleidoscope | Make your own colorful and shape changing kaleidoscope that your kids can look around through. […]

  8. Summer Camp Craft Ideas for Rainy (or Bored) Days - The Artful Crafter says:
    June 11, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    […] Summer Camp Craft Ideas 11. DIY Kaleidoscopes […]

  9. Summer STEAM fun! - The Boys Store Blog says:
    July 19, 2018 at 11:03 am

    […] Technology, Engineering, Art, Mechanics) activity that we tried. I found this awesome tutorial at Little Bins for Little Hands. This great activity teaches it all. It is a fun artistic endeavor that allows kids to learn by […]

  10. 15 best summer craft ideas – Finest 10 Ideas says:
    March 27, 2019 at 7:15 am

    […] kid’s kaleidoscope uses every component of STEAM to create a cool, homemade science toy. Details […]

  11. 30 DIY Crafts For Kids - Easy Crafts For Summer - Creative DIYs says:
    June 17, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    […] Tutorial: littlebinsforlittlehands […]

Primary Sidebar

We have a PASSION for SLIME, and are dedicated to helping you make the best slime ever. Questions? Just ask us!

We also LOVE science and all things STEM. Join us on our journey to discover just how cool science can be. Want to know how to get started? Click on any of the images or menu options!

Site Footer

Sign Me Up!

Take our FREE 5-Day STEM Challenge with boredom busting activity ideas for kids!

Privacy Policy