Spiral ghosts to hang up
A paper circle cut into a spiral, a ghost's head in the middle: once it's hung up, it unwinds into a long tail that twirls in the slightest draught.
Age : age 5+; a grown-up helps with the spiral
Materials
- Thick white paper or thin card : A4 size: one ghost per sheet. Paper that's too thin just droops instead of turning.
- A plate or a large bowl (about 20 cm) : To draw round for the circle.
- A pencil, a rubber and scissors
- A black felt-tip pen : For the eyes and mouth.
- White thread or fishing line : To hang it up.
- Sticky tape or a needle, for the grown-up : To attach the thread.
Steps
Draw and cut out
- Draw a big circle round the plate on the sheet of paper.
- In the middle of the circle, draw a little ghost's head about 6 cm across, with both arms raised.
- Starting from the edge of the circle, draw a spiral that winds inwards to the head, keeping a strip about 2 cm wide.
- Cut out the circle, then follow the spiral with the scissors, round and round, all the way to the ghost: the grown-up helps with the tight bends.
- Cut round the outline of the head and arms, without cutting the strip attached to them.
Decorate and hang
- With the black felt-tip, draw two oval eyes and an O-shaped mouth on the head.
- Rub out any pencil lines that still show.
- The grown-up attaches a thread to the top of the head, with a little piece of sticky tape on the back or a stitch with the needle.
- Hang the ghost from the ceiling or a window: the spiral unwinds into a long tail.
- Hang up several at different heights: they all turn in the slightest draught.
Did you know? The spiral turns because warm air rises: near a radiator or a lamp, the rising air pushes on the sloping strip and makes the ghost spin, like a little propeller.
Same technique for a snake (snake's head in the middle, scaly strip), a black bat or a dragon. With tracing paper, the ghosts turn see-through against a window.
If it goes wrong
- The ghost breaks at the neck : Keep the strip wider where it joins the head, or strengthen it with a piece of sticky tape on the back.
- The spiral doesn't unwind properly : Slightly thinner paper, wider turns.
- It doesn't turn : Hang it near a window or above a radiator (never above a candle).
Safety
- Pointed scissors and the needle stay with the grown-up.
- Never hang paper above a candle or a very hot lamp.