Materials
Old pairs of sunglasses Binoculars
Telescope Mirrors
Kaleidoscope Old magazines
Scissors Balloons
Glue Yarn
Paper plates Paint
Instructions
This activity stresses the importance of eyesight andreassures children who wear glasses or contact lenses.1. Discuss features such as the color of one's eyes,explaining that the colored part of the eye is called the iris. The black circle of theeye is called the pupil, and is just a hole to let light through, so we can see. Set up a specialarea in the classroom to display sunglasses, binoculars, telescopes, mirrors and kaleidoscopes.2. Try a simple game of Blindman's Bluff. Ask the children how they feel when they close theireyes. Point out that we should never take our eyesight for granted.3. Allow children to browse through old magazines and find pictures of eyes in all colors. Blowup balloons for each child and tie a string on the knotted balloon end. Let the children carefullyglue one pair of eyes they've cut from magazines onto their inflated balloon. They mayadd other facial features also, if they wish. Glue some yarn on the top of the balloon forhair. Encourage the children to give their balloon people the same eye colors and hair colorsas they have or that a friend has. If they can't find the right eyes in magazines, cut them fromconstruction paper or glue on wiggle eyes. Or children could look in magazines for the eyes ofpets like dogs and cats and make their balloons into pet personalities. Make it a fun project.More to doArt: Make beautiful color wheels by asking the children to paint primary colors on paper plates.More science: Discuss rainbows and ask the children to look for rainbow colors all around theclassroom.
