Rediscover Center
Make a Spinning Selfie
We’ve created an activity guide on Spinning Selfies inspired by The Girl who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin, written by Julia Finley Mosca and illustrated by Daniel Rieley. Dr. Grandin is an incredible scientist, animal rights advocate, and spokesperson on autism and neurodiversity. We’ve added this book to the Chill Zone at reDiscover Center. Explore how your brain works by making your own Spinning Selfie using recycled materials from home!

STEP 1 - Gather Your Materials

STEP 2 - Design the Face Shape

Design and cut out a face shape and a smaller circle. Tracing around a round object like a roll of tape or a cup makes a perfect circle!
*Cutting Tip! Drawing first, then cutting on the line, is a good way to plan and practice cutting accurately.

STEP 3 - Decorate

Decorate your face and your spinning wheel. When Dr. Temple Grandin was little, she realized she thought differently from other children around her - in pictures!

*Building Tip! Find inspiration from your recycling bin! You can find cool images, colors, and patterns from packaging, magazines, and stickers.

How does your brain work? What do you think about a lot?

“I decorated two sides of my spinning wheel. The top part is all about how much I love being around nature and how excited I am about spring coming! The bottom is full of stickers and cut outs of fruit, candy, and drinks I found. I chose these because I loooove sweets!”

STEP 4 - Combine your Pieces

Poke a hole through the center of the wheel and your face. Put together with a brad or brass fastener. If you don’t have one on hand, can you build one? The fastener in our example was tinkered out of twist ties.

Additionally, you can ask: What else can I add to my spinning selfie? Can I give myself a body using other recycled materials? Where is it going to live in our home? On a wall somewhere or standing on a table?

Once you've added everything you want in your Spinning Selfie, share it with friends and family! If you want to share a picture on social media, make sure to tag @reDiscoverCtr so that we can imagine what it's like to be inside your head!

Category : Activity Guide Blog Creativity Resources
Tags : creative Creativity DEIA diversity found objects literacy making materials neurodiversity reuse S.T.E.A.M. tinkering tools tutorials video
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