On Sunny days you may need sunglasses to reduce the glare and soften the brightness of the light. That reminds us that glasses and different lenses provide a different view of the world. Pull out lenses you have like sunglasses, magnifying glasses, camera lenses, and binoculars. You can also cut a tiny peek hole in a paper for children to peer through. It helps them focus on tiny patterns they might not notice otherwise. They can also look through a kaleidoscope to view how tiny pieces of colored plastic or glass can make beautiful patterns.

Try each type of lens and discuss how each one makes objects look different. Visit a planetarium or science museum to try out other lenses like telescopes that help enlarge items far away and microscopes that magnify very tiny objects.

Make rose-colored glasses with some rose or red cellophane and cardboard. Simply cut the cardboard into an eyeglass shape, bend the sides to fit your face and go over your ears, cut holes for eyes, and cover the holes with the colored cellophane. 

Make a water lens with an empty plastic bucket you can cut.

• Cut plastic wrap larger than the top opening of the container.
• Secure the plastic over the top with duct tape or a large rubber band.
• Cut three circular openings around the sides of the container large enough to slip your hand inside.
• Fill the plastic with water. It sags to make a concave lens.
• Hold objects under the lens to see the water magnify the items. Discuss how tears are like water and can make problems seem bigger.

Other Ways to Look at the World:

• Try a prism too. They are often available at dollar priced stores. A prism separates the light into the colors of the spectrum. That’s due to refraction. Watch the rainbow it forms.
• Play with optical illusions that can trick your eyes. Stare at your fingers held close together in front of your eyes until you see a floating piece of a finger. Trace your hand and draw lines to make a 3D illusion with these online instructions.
• Make a simple periscope to per around corners Look up directions online.
• Chat about how life is also a type of lens. We look at life through what we know and have experienced. Fun at parties can make us like celebrations while bad times at parties can cause us to shy away from them. This forms your worldview. Looking at life through God’s eyes, through reading the Bible gives you a biblical worldview.
• Discuss how different opinions that are not always fact promotes a viewpoint. The news often shares different. Viewpoints.

Enjoy lots of hands on activities with kids while connecting them to faith with the 52 Weekly Devotions for Busy Families and 52 weekly Devotions for Family Prayer. Thanks for stopping y and consider subscribing to this blog!

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Karen Whiting