Finger Spinners 1

I've been sitting on this project for a long time, and I don't know why. Maybe because I it's too simple, but now, I think that's the beauty of this project.

Simple and loads of fun.

This is what we're building to day.

Supplies List:

I traced these circles to plug CD's inner holes. Need something to stick thumb tacks through.

• Old CDs
• Thumb tack
• Paper
• Adhesive tape
• Scissors
• Color Pens
• Pencil
• A piece of cardboard 
• A hot glue gun

Build Instructions:

I decided to make two spinners. So, I drew two CD outlines.

You can do a lot with these spinners, with color mixing, etc. But I really wanted to play with how our eyes try to make sense of what they're seeing and creating things that don't exist. So, I drew some patterns I thought would be interesting. There's no magic to these patterns. You can draw whatever you want and color them.

I cut the circles and plugged the CD holes in the middle.

I taped the patterns on the CDs with tape.

You don't have to tape it all around. Just enough to hold the pattern in place.

I stuck the thumb tacks through the middle. I thought I could spin them without any additional work, but the thumb tacks just spun in place. So, I had to figure out something to hold it in place.

I had glue gun handy. So, I just put some hot glue around the pins to hold it in place.

We are ready to spin!

Project Notes:

Our eyes and our brain are constantly trying to make sense of the world around us, filling in empty spaces with what seems logical to them.

Here in the 1st set of pictures, when the spinners are spinning fast, the colors bleed into the white areas in the first spinner, and phantom lines and patterns seemed to exist when there are none.

Here in the 2nd set of pictures, when the spinners are slowing down a bit, the colors don't bleed as much, and the phantom lines are not as clear or distinct as the first set.

Here in the 3rd set of pictures, there's hardly any bleeding of colors in the first spinner, and the phantom lines and patterns are minimal in the second spinner.

I had a lot of fun with this project (more fun than I expected), and I'm planning to do more projects.

In the mean time, I found a great website for our eyes trying to make sense of things. Please check it out for more information.

How your eyes trick your mind

Have a great day.