{ Kaleidoscope }

Kaleidoscope
----Kalos Eidos Scopos----
Greek for "Beautiful Forms Viewer."

The Scottish physicist, Sir David Brewster, invented the kaleidoscope in 1816.  There was suppose to be a scientific purpose to his invention, something about the mirrors and symmetrical patterns, but, once people started looking into the eye piece and seeing the pretty patterns, the science of it was tossed out the window and replaced with, "ohhhh, look at the pretty colors!!!!" and from that moment forward, Brewster's kaleidoscope became known as a really cool toy.

As a summer boredom buster, I helped my daughter put together this kaleidoscope from a kit I bought at a local craft store.

She really liked adding the holographic paper and gems. AND, because I am the kind of mom who has to teach some sort of lesson with just about everything, I tried to bring in the original science factor Sir David Brewster had intended with his invention by talking about how the 3 mirrors which are placed into the tube create a prism, yada, yada, yada. Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about, but, my daughter didn't know that. Nevertheless, it was neat for her to put the kaleidoscope together and see how it works from the inside out.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten
S.W.A.K.