How to Make a Kaleidoscope

How to Make a Kaleidoscope

Gather up a few basic supplies and try our video or step-by-step guides for how to make a simple kaleidoscope.

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Zoe Williams

Published: July 5, 2024 at 12:36 pm

Kids will love the making fun as much as they will playing with their finished kaleidoscope with this easy kids craft project.

All you need are a few basic craft supplies and a sheet of mirror card to give this a go. We've used a couple of cardboard tubes and a plastic tub from our recycling box and some beads and sellotape.

The only extra you'll need is some mirror card or silver card from your local craft store or Amazon.

Check out our video guide for how to make a kaleidoscope or scroll down for full step-by-step instructions.

We have used Crafty Crocodiles silver Mirror card to make our kaleidoscope (Amazon, £2.95 for a pack of 10).

If you're on the hunt for children's craft ideas, try our Easy Salt Dough Recipe. Read on for our step by step guide or scroll to the bottom of this post for our video tutorial.

To start off you'll need two cardboard tubes – we've used the tubes from the inside of a kitchen roll and toilet roll.

Step 1

Cover the larger cardboard tube with black or coloured card or paper. This is just for decoration so if you don’t have any paper or card, you can just decorate with pens or paints instead, or leave it blank.

How to make a kaleidoscope step 2

Step 2

Cut three strips of mirror card and stick them together along their long edges (shiny sides facing inwards) with sellotape to form a triangular prism, which we’ll be inserting into the main cardboard tube.

You may need to play around your strip sizes to get the perfect fit before you begin – a good tip is to try it with some scrap paper first until you’ve got the right fit, then use this as a template for your mirror card. We’ve used three strips that each measure 19cm x 4.3cm to form a prism that fits the inside of a kitchen roll tube (the tube measures 10cm tall and 4.5cm across). If you’re using a smaller toilet roll tube and you live here in the UK, try cutting your strips to measure 9cm x 4.1cm each (this would fit a tube that measures 10cm x 4.5cm).

How to make a kaleidoscope step 4

Step 3

Insert the prism into the middle of the cardboard tube. You should leave a space about 1cm from the end.

How to make a kaleidoscope step 6

Step 4

Cut the edge of the second, smaller tube to create a ring that’s 2m tall. This should fit snuggly inside the larger tube at the end to form an end cap later. If the smaller tube doesn’t fit inside the larger tube, simply cut it along it’s short edge and use sellotape to turn it into a smaller tube that does just fit into the main tube. You don’t want it to be too loose so that it will fall out, but small enough to fit inside the tube.

How to make a kaleidoscope step 7

Step 5

Use your ring from step 4 as a template to cut two circles of plastic from a plastic carton.

How to make a kaleidoscope step 8

 

Step 6

Sellotape the first plastic circle to one of the outer edges of the ring. Leave the other edge free for the next step.

How to make a kaleidoscope step 10

Step 7

Fill the end piece with beads and sequins.

How to make a simple kaleidoscope step 11

Step 8

Sellotape the second plastic circle to the other edge of the ring, sealing the beads and sequins inside.

How to make a simple kaleidoscope step 12

Step 9

Insert the finished end cap into the main tube so it rests up against the edge of the triangular prism.

How to make a simple kaleidoscope step 14

Your kaleidoscope is ready! When you look into it and twist the end piece, you’ll see the bead and sequin shapes dancing in front of your eyes!

Zoe Williams

Launch Editor, Gathered.how

Zoe launched Gathered.how as editor in 2019. A keen crafter, quilter and sewist, she has worked with the UK’s best-selling craft magazines – from Today’s Quilter to Love Patchwork & Quilting, Simply Sewing and The World of Cross Stitching. With over a decade of craft publishing experience under her belt, she loves crafting with her kids and curling up on the sofa with a spot of hand patchwork. Zoe has previously written for radiotimes.com, Simply Knitting and The World of Cross Stitching and was previously Deputy Editor of Papercraft inspirations magazine. She has guest-lectured at Bath Spa University. She’s a keen quilter with 5 projects in progress at any one time and another 12 or so planned. Specialist skills include hand modelling for YouTube craft tutorials and fabric foraging (she has an inbuilt radar for local haberdasheries and community craft gatherings).
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