The materials you need are:
*wire (18 gauge is best but 19 gauge is easier for kids to work with because it is easier to bend)
*pencil
*wire cutter/plyers
*cork
*paper
(nail and hammer)
Step 1
Wrap wire around a pencil. Two inches around the pencil is sufficient.
Step 2
After you remove the spiral wire from the pencil, you can start to pull and stretch the wire so that each coil is about 1 cm apart. Although it is necessary to experiment with the distance in order to make it work for you.
Step 3
Cut a piece of wire (approximately 3 1/2 inches long) and loop ends into small circles, then bend wire into a semicircle.
Step 4
Insert the spiral into the looped ends of the newly formed semi-circle.
Step 5
Insert one end of the spiral into a cork base. Tip: Create a pilot hole in cork with hammer and nail first.
Step 6
Now you can create a little character out of paper to twirl around the spiral. I also thought of monkeys, acrobats or spacemen for this project. And then you use a glue gun to sandwich the semi-circle with your paper character.
Step 7
Bring the character to the very top, give it a little nudge and watch it twirl down!
Final tip: If character does not twirl down, slightly spread coils apart. If character slips down without twirling, slightly squeeze coils together
