on the left is a disk of a Phenakistoscope
on the right you can see the resulting animation
this is a phenakistoscope with an animation of a running cat, we made with my students
exercise: it is easy to make your own phenakistoscope
just follow the instructions:
1. You will need card paper, a thumbtack, scissors, a pencil and colors.
2. first open and print the disk
(phenakistoscope). You can chose the disk
with the cat animation or an empty disk to draw your own animation
just click on the images to open
3.
Cut out the disk and glue it on the card paper. Poke a hole in the center where the dot is shown. Cut out the marked slits.
4.
Use a thumbtack to put through the hole. Push the end of the thumbtack into the eraser of your pencil
5. Hold the phenakistoscope in front of a mirror. Make sure that the pictures face the mirror. Make sure that the light is bright enough so that you can see.
6. Spin the disk and look through the slits . You will see the pictures in the mirror and they should seem to be moving.
more info about optical toys:
http :// web . inter . nl . net / users / anima / optical / thauma / index . htm
Exhibit of Optical Toys:
http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/opticaltoys.htm