Easy to Make–Spinning Toys

I saw a pin recently about spinning tops over at “Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational”.  She really sold me on doing this project with her great description…

“This activity combines art, science, and play. I'm not overselling it when I say, it's downright mesmerizing.  Both my boys played with these tirelessly, and it was only until it was bedtime when they were forced to stop (truthfully, I had to confiscate them).”

Even though my son is only 18 months old I decided to give this project a “whirl”.  Mainly because we happened to have all the project materials handy.  Here are the details…

DIY Level – Super EASY  

Time – 10 minutes* to make 2 spinning tops

*Since my son is 18 months I made this without his help.  I really didn’t need him playing with a hot glue gun or sharpie pens.  The time it takes depends on children’s age.  One more note – the marble and bottle cap are both choking hazards so this toy should be used with supervision or  better yet make this toy for a child who is old enough to handle small objects.

Materials

• CD
• Colored Pens (Sharpies)
• CD labels (or trace the CD and cut your own and glue on)
• Hot glue gun
• Marble
• Plastic bottle cap

Instructions

First I stuck the blank CD label onto the used CD.  I then colored it with Sharpies.  Hot glued a marble on the bottom and a bottle cap on the top.  Then we gave it a whirl.  (Click here to find more detailed step by step instructions).

Here are the before and after spin photos. 

It was a try this color here and try that color there kind of project.  I ended up learning that large color blocks work better for making an all over color on the CD as it spins.  At first I used red, blue, and yellow – which makes a lovely shade of BROWN.  Of course I “knew” that mentally all the colors would spin together, but I was hoping at the slower speeds to see some rainbow effect (didn’t work).  I ended up coloring over the yellow with either blue or red and the CD color turned out purplish / red.  It’s all about experimenting with this project and seeing what patterns and colors will be interesting to you and your kids. 

The main goal is that my little guy loved it and enjoyed watching it spin.  Hope you enjoy.