Create these colour cardboard rolls and help your kids explore the vibrant world around them. Little learners are such curious Georges who love to explore the world around them. This super simple DIY Colourscope activity is perfect for classrooms, homeschools or outdoors to invite the exploration of senses, color mixing, and light.

Make these colour scopes and let your little learners look at the world through a colourful lens. Watch them peek through one of these and hear shrieks of delights as they see their friend looking as blue as a smurf or as green as a leaf! Let them explore indoors and outdoors, look at details and see their world turn into different colours.  

Now let’s view the world through colour tinted scopes!

How to make colour scopes

What you need:

• Cellophane
• Toilet paper/paper towel rolls or any hard cardboard rolls
• Sharpie markers
• Rubber bands
• Acrylic markers or paints (optional)
• Hot glue gun (optional)
• Decorating supplies such as felt, googly eyes, sequence, stickers etc. (optional)

How to:

Step 1: Paint or colour the cardboard rolls (optional)

Step 2: Cut a piece of cellophane that is large enough to wrap around the opening of the rolls. Secure it with a rubber band. You can use coloured cellophanes or a clear one. If you do not have cellophane, then a clear plastic bag will work as well. 

Step 3: If you use a clear cellophane, using a sharpie marker, colour the cellophane so that it covers the opening (viewer). 

Step 4: If you want to create binoculars, you can hot glue two tubes together. 

Step 5: Let the kids decorate the tubes (optional)

Step 6: Give the rolls to the kids and let them explore the world through their colour scopes. 

Tip: To secure the cellophane even better you can tape it.

Explore further:

• Color Mixing – use two or more colours. Place them on top of each other and ask them to look through the tubes. What new colours did they create? How does that affect what they are looking at? 
• Add some mirror fun – Place a mirror next to the tubes so the kids can see what they look like through the different coloured tubes. It is always so much fun to explore how you change depending on the colour scope you are using. 

This activity is a blast for preschoolers as well as first and second graders. It is perfect for the extending their interest in light as well as a great activity to further extend the five sense unit. We hope you give this super simple science and craft activity a go. If you do, do give us a shoutout over on Instagram or Facebook. We would love to see your creations. Happy exploring!