Valentines Toy: Make A Thaumatrope Spinner

Delight the senses with this super easy Valentines toy for kids. My son loved this simple STEAM project and that’s saying quite a bit since he usually doesn’t like anything with drawing. When I showed him my sample Valentine’s thaumatrope he was pretty interested in how the two sides seemed to blend together when he spun the straw in his hands. We love do-able Valentine crafts!

How To Make A Thaumatrope For Valentine’s Day

Easy Valentines Toy For Kids

When I say easy, I mean easy! I didn’t realize just how simple this super fun Valentine’s toy is to make. No mess either. I am not too crafty, so I was impressed by how quickly they came together. Plus, my Valentine’s thaumatropes actually worked! Bonus, so YOU can do it too!

But first what is a thaumatrope?

A thaumatrope is a simple toy from the 19th century that is still played with today. You may have seen them before but instead of using a straw they used a piece of string for spinning it.

If you can get your two images to blend together, you have made a thaumatrope! It’s a fun craft and STEAM activity to do with kids of all ages.

We also made a Christmas version with another free printable thaumatrope. No drawing required!

Valentine’s Thaumatrope

Supplies:

Printable thaumatrope
White computer paper
Drinking straws
Sharpies (or markers)
Tape

Making simple Valentines thaumatropes STEAM activity

How To Make Your Valentines Toy

STEP 1: I used a large plastic party cup, roughly 4″ in diameter to trace two circles onto my paper.

STEP 2: Cut out circles.

STEP 3: Choose an image that can be drawn in two parts. To give the illusion of the images blending together, you have to draw to parts. One on one circle and one on the other. Our first one was a heart in the hand because my son loves the kissing hand.

Helpful Hint: Draw your first image and then put the blank circle over it to finish the rest of the image. You can see below that I drew a red heart, then I put the blank circle over it and drew the outline and arrow in black. When you spin the toy, the images will blend together nicely.

If you want some premade inspiration, grab this FREE printable thaumatrope pack!

STEP 4: Attach the straw to the backside of one circle with tape. Make 2 tape balls/rolls and put on either side of the straw. Attach the other circle. You are done!

Make easy Valentines thaumatrope kids STEAM activity

STEP 5: Give your new Valentine toy a spin!

We made a bunch quickly. These are my fun and simple Valentines thaumatropes. You can see below that I made a heart in the hand (a personal favorite). Forgive my drawing skills, but it does show you that anyone can do it!

I also made a couple versions of the girl thaumatrope. The first had the eyes and hair on one circle with the nose and mouth on the other. My second one had the eyes and nose on one circle a mouth and hair on the other.

Here’s my other heart and arrow Valentines thaumatrope. We also tried one with writing. I put the words I and You on one circle and the word Love on the other, taking care to match them up. It worked!

Plus I made some swirly patterns and designs on other thaumatropes. It was so easy, it was hard to stop making new ones. I have some other fun designs to share at another time with my son’s!