Note that you’ll need to make it this size to fit your paper towel roll. To make these lines easier to fold later, you may wish to measure and trace these lines in marker first, then use a paper cutter or box cutter to lightly score these lines into the plastic. Do not cut completely through the plastic, however.
If you’d like, make the circle a little bit bigger. You can then cut tiny slits along the edges so the circle lies flat on the end. Then you have some wiggle room to work with and won’t have tape on the visible part of your kaleidoscope. And if there is tape that’s visible, you can always cover it in glitter.
If this doesn’t end up looking like you want it to look, you can always go back into your kaleidoscope and make adjustments!
Trim the corners of the squares. This will make the kaleidoscope look neater. You can replace the rubber band with some sticky tape, if you like.
Take it away from your eye for a second, give it a quick, gentle shake, and put it back up to your eye. Just how different is what you’re seeing? What happens if you do it again? Can you recreate anything?
Place one of the circular ends of your tube flat on a piece of paper – contact paper is best, but construction paper or even gift wrap will work, too. Cut about 1" (2. 5 cm) around the traced circle; with that extra 1", cut little notches around the circle so it bends more easily (it’ll sort of look like a firework). Cut a triangle or circle in the center of the paper to view through. Center the cardboard tube on top of your circle and secure the edges with tape (unless you’re using contact paper, of course).
With one of the circles, cut notches all the way to the inside of the smaller circle – this’ll be called lens 1. It should sort of resemble a gear. With the other circle, cut notches to the outside tracing of the smaller circle — this’ll be lens 2. Lay them flat against the table and bend the notches upwards.
If there’s some tape exposed where you secured your lens, cover it in glitter! It’s easy and mess-free if you pour your glitter in the crease of a folded piece of paper. Just coat the very tip of your kaleidoscope in glue and place it in the crease, rotating it around until it’s fully coated.
You can either leave the glass clear to create a “world view” kaleidoscope or you can create a colored kaleidoscope by drawing on the inside face of the petri dish using colored permanent markers before you attach it to the PVC tube.
