Questacon > Kids > Exhibitions & Shows > The Archives > Illusions > Illusions Activities > 13. Hand Made Illusions

Illusion Exhibition

Hand Made Illusions

Do illusions translate from one sense to another?

The things you’ll need

• Modelling clay
• Rulers
• Copies of your favourite visual illusions
• Blindfolds
• Plenty of time!

The preparation

Get the things you’ll need together and roll up your sleeves!

The activity

Ask your students to use the clay to make model 3–D versions of several illusions. Try to include the Poggendorf, Dot to Dot and Taking a Plate.

Once the models are finished, invite some volunteers from outside the class to come along and test them while blindfolded.

Do they work as well as the original illusions?

The inside story

In most cases the 3D versions are not as tricky as the visual ones. Some illusions translate better than others.

Options

Compile and graph the results, discuss what conclusions you can draw.