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Week beginning 29th June
Thaumatropes
Create this optical illusion. How creative can you be?
Cut out a white cardboard circle. On the front, draw something on the left. On the back, draw something upside down on the right. Punch two holes in the sides of the circle, as shown above, and thread string or an elastic band through either side. When you twist them, they begin to spin, joining the front and back images together.
The thaumatrope is among the simplest of the “persistence of vision” toys that were introduced in the early 19th century. In its basic form it is a card with a different picture on each surface and string attached to each side. When the string is wound up then released the card spins rapidly merging the two pictures together.