How to Make Spy Gear for Beginners

Help your child make his own spy gear.

If your child is having a spy-themed birthday part or just wants to pretend he is a spy at home, help him make his own spy gear. Your child will enjoy playing "007" with homemade, discreet spy toys that he can use over and over again. One piece of spy gear is a keyhole spy tool, which is used to get a fisheye view of a room. Another vital piece of equipment is a spyglass, which you can make from from household items. Finally, your child will have a ball creating and decoding secret messages.

Things You'll Need

• Black construction paper
• Clear marble
• Scissors
• Tape
• Large cardboard tube
• Medium cardboard tube
• Small cardboard tube
• Yarn
• Hold punch
• Plastic wrap
• Cardboard
• Marker
• Paper

Instructions

Keyhole Tool

1. Cut a piece of black construction paper so that the length is 8 times the width and the width is 5 times the width of the clear marble.

2. Place the marble in the center of the piece of paper. Roll the paper so that the long sides touch.

3. Hold the marble in place and roll the paper tightly around it. Tape the ends of the paper together to keep it from unrolling.

4. Stick your finger in the paper tube to push the clear marble to the very end of the tube. Push the marble until half of it is outside the tube and half of it is inside. Hold the tube in front of a keyhole and look through it to see a fisheye view of the room.

Spyglass

1. Snip two pieces of yarn the same length as the longest cardboard tube. Cut two pieces of yarn the same length as the medium tube.

2. Punch two equally-spaced holes in the sides of the end of the longest tube. Punch two more holes in the same manner at the end of the medium tube.

3. Tie the ends of the long pieces of yarn to the holes of the long tube. Place the medium tube so that the non-holed end is slightly inside the holed end of the long tube.

4. Pull the yarn over the medium tube and tie the open ends to the holes in the medium tube. Attach the medium and short tubes in the same manner with the medium-length yarn pieces.This allows you to extend and retract the spyglass.

5. Cut a round piece of plastic wrap and place it over the open end of the long tube. Tape all around the edges of the plastic wrap to attach it to the end of the spyglass.

Decoder

1. Cut a circle, about 5 inches in diameter, out of a piece of cardboard. Lay the circle on a flat surface.

2. Write the letters of the alphabet, followed by the numbers "0" through "9," all around the edges of the circle.

3. Flip the circle over. On the back side of each letter and number, draw an simple symbol to represent the letter. For example, the letter "A" could be a paw print symbol or the number "1" could be a small square. Make sure each symbol is different.

4. Write a secret note to a friend of family member, using the symbols instead of regular letters and numbers. Decode the message by comparing the letters and numbers on the front of the decoder with the symbols on the back.

Tips & Warnings

• Always supervise your child during crafting.

References

• Top Spy Secrets: Build Your Own Keyhole Spy Tool
• Crayola: I Spy Everything

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish