Illusion Spin Tops
Looking for a fun and simple Hanukkah science activity? Try making these magical spinning dreidels out of old CDs, markers, and a little creativity. Kids of all ages will be mesmerized watching the hypnotic motion of the colorful tops as they spin. The illusion of the rotating disks blending together is entertaining and educational. Follow our easy step-by-step instructions to create eye-catching dreidels that will liven up your Hanukkah celebrations this year!
Materials:
- A printed file of the illusions
- Old CDs
- Bottle caps
- Glue
- Hot glue
- Marbles
- Markers
- Scissors
What to do?
- Cut out the spinner patterns from the attached PDF file. Also cut out the small circle in the center of the spinner.
- If you chose the color disk model, color it with your choice of colors. Color every other section with alternating colors.
- Glue each of the patterns onto a CD.
- Glue a marble into the center of the disk.
- Spin it and observe!
Newton’s Color Wheel
Newton’s color wheel is a famous optical illusion. When you take a disk, color it in rainbow colors in a certain order, and spin it quickly, an illusion is created where the disk appears to turn white. The reason for this illusion lies in the fact that white is actually a combination of all the rainbow colors. Therefore, when the disk spins fast enough, the colors smear and blend into each other, giving us the white color. The spinner is named after Newton, who is considered the father of color theory.
Benham’s Disk
In this optical illusion, black lines are drawn on a white background. When the disk spins, our eyes start to see flickers of color. To this day the reason for this phenomenon, is not fully clear. One explanation is that the drawn lines create flickerings at different frequencies which are interpreted by our brain as colors because each color receptor in our eye has a different reaction time.
It’s named after the British toymaker Charles Benham who started selling this spinner in 1895.
Color Disk
In this optical illusion the surface of the spinner is colored in two different colors. When the spinner rotates the colors blend because the eye is not fast enough to distinguish between the rapid alternations. As a result we get a color which is a combination of the two different colors. For example, blue and red will give purple.
We’d love to showcase your creativity!
Share pictures of your experiments with us, and together, we can inspire young scientists everywhere!
