Materials for Making a Kaleidoscope

Series Summary

The kaleidoscope was invented by the Scottish in the 1700s and presented to a British military commander as a peace offering after his troops has surrounded a rebel stronghold in the Highlands. The vastly outnumbered Scots hoped that the commander would look through the kaleidoscope--disguised as a telescope--and panic when he saw the opposition multiplied and synchronized to such a frightening degree. This would lead to a hasty retreat and victory for the rebels. Most historians doubt if this plan worked. The late 1960s saw a rise in popularity of the kaleidoscope in conjunction with whatever it was that the hippies were famous for.

In this series, our expert on spit ball shooters and razor scooters tells you how to build your very own kaleidoscope using such basic items as pvc pipe, a mirror and a Petri dish. Elliott Kwong talks you through each easy step, from cutting the pipe to breaking the mirror to creating the scene in the Petri dish that will be reflected, inverted and twirled as you look down the pipe for your very own homegrown psychedelic experience. Why pay a fortune for a toy like this when you can make an even better one on your own! Saving you money and upping your fun: that’s the Expert Village way.

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Elliott Kwong on behalf of Expert Village. Today I'm going to teach you how to make a kaleidoscope. So in order to build a kaleidoscope, you are going to need a couple of materials. Before I beginn, let me just say that there is a whole different ways to build kaleidoscopes. You would find a whole bunch of different ways online, different ways in a book. My way is just one way of building one okay. So here is some materials that you are going to need. Obviously you are going to need a tub of some kind. What I go here is a pvc pipe. This is a pvc pipe and you can get one of these and you are going to need for my project, you are going to need a 1.5 inch diameter. So that is going to be the length. It does not matter we would cut that later. What you are also going to need is a cap for that pvc pipe and it just fits on like this. That is what you are going to need from one end. You are going to need some foam. This is just installation foam for your average pvc pipe; you would need that to. Also, you need a peachy dish. A peachy dish is maybe some kind of cap or a cover and inside I have some beads. Or any little things that is going to create a good pattern, you are going to need some of that. Last but not least, you need a mirror and mirror like this would be good. "