Challenging Little Artists: Tracing Reflected Images
By MaryAnne
My kids adore drawing, and my four-year-old especially enjoys tracing so when I saw this Magic Tracer by ALEX Toys, I knew I wanted to see what they would do with the challenge of tracing a reflected image. The Magic Tracer is very nifty – the plastic piece in the middle reflects the image from one side onto the other, and then you can trace it – like this:
See how it’s a mirror image? Tracing this way is much more challenging than tracing with tracing paper, because your hand blocks part of the reflection. The picture above was Johnny’s first attempt – he then moved to partial tracing:
And on to completely unrelated images. The Magic Tracer fits perfectly in my bag, and holds paper and pencils, so we’ve pulled it out several times since I took these pictures (at the end of October), and each time he does the same thing – traces quite accurately at first, and then moves on to more abstract art.
The Magic Tracer is recommended for ages five and up, so Johnny is a bit young. I think he will enjoy it more and more as he gets better at tracing the reflected image. Three-year-old Lily doesn’t grasp the concept of tracing the reflection at all, but she LOVES using the Magic Tracer for parallel drawing with Johnny:
Lily also uses this as an ordinary drawing case. It holds several small sheets of paper and writing utensils beautifully, and I love that it keeps everything neat and tidy in my bag.
Have you ever tried tracing a reflected image? When I was a high school student, we used an overhead projector to project an image onto piece of set, and then we had to trace the image to create a tropical forest backdrop. It was a very similar process – your own shadow would block part of the image, so you were really seeing what you about to trace, rather than what you were actually tracing. I found it challenging, but fun – and that seems to be my kids’ reaction to this toy! I love that the challenge also encourages them to start tracing, but then move on in their own creative direction – so Johnny will copy part of a monster, but then finish it based off of his own imagination, instead of the original image.
Do your kids have a toy that they use in a different way from how it was intended but that is a lot of fun – like how Johnny and Lily parallel draw with this toy?
I was given this toy as a blogger for ALEX Toys. All opinions are my own, and I only write about products that I think would interest my readers.
15 comments to Challenging Little Artists: Tracing Reflected Images
We haven’t really done much tracing here, but I see how it could be fun to trace a reflected image. It looks like Johnny is really enjoying this toy. Visit Natalie … Week In Review–November 18, 2012
I used to have one of these as a kid and used it for the longest time.
I’m sure I have oodles of toys that my kids don’t use for their intended purposes. Oodles and oodles of toys. Visit Ticia … Learning about Compound Words
That looks like a lot of fun! My kids use most of their toys for purposes they weren’t intended for. Toy pliers to “cut” my hair, pattern blocks to make soup and cylinder blocks have recently become binoculars. It cracks me up when she holds the blocks over her eyes completely obscuring her view and says “look Mama, I’ve spotted a leopard” – while bumping into a chair. Visit Mud Hut Mama … More Leopards are Arriving Soon: Some Leopard Facts and Crafts
It looks fun! Some kids would really love the challenge of drawing a reflected image and I like how you can deviate from that task as well if you rather do a different kind of drawing. And I love how Lily is so clear and helpful with her brother on how to connect the lines! What a nice sister! Visit PragmaticMom … 6 Things I Can Not Live Without
What a great challenge for your art-loving kiddos, and I LOVE the results! Most of our toys are open-ended, so I don’t think they can be used in an unintended way. I hadn’t thought about it! Visit Elisa | blissfulE … Vi sings and plays “Rain, Rain”
They can’t actually both trace at the same time – it has to have a slight incline for the reflection to work – but they love using it side by side anyhow :)
That’s really cool! I’ve never seen something with the plastic in the middle to trace a mirror image. So cute how Lily wants to draw parallel to Johnny. :) Visit Jen … totally awesome super-cool bible stories {giveaway}
We haven’t really done much tracing here, but I see how it could be fun to trace a reflected image. It looks like Johnny is really enjoying this toy.
Visit Natalie … Week In Review–November 18, 2012
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maryanne Reply:
November 22nd, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Yes, it’s definitely Johnny’s “type” of toy :)
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I used to have one of these as a kid and used it for the longest time.
I’m sure I have oodles of toys that my kids don’t use for their intended purposes. Oodles and oodles of toys.
Visit Ticia … Learning about Compound Words
[Reply]
That looks like a lot of fun! My kids use most of their toys for purposes they weren’t intended for. Toy pliers to “cut” my hair, pattern blocks to make soup and cylinder blocks have recently become binoculars. It cracks me up when she holds the blocks over her eyes completely obscuring her view and says “look Mama, I’ve spotted a leopard” – while bumping into a chair.
Visit Mud Hut Mama … More Leopards are Arriving Soon: Some Leopard Facts and Crafts
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
November 22nd, 2012 at 9:46 pm
I had to laugh at your description of cylinder block binoculars. So funny!!!
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It looks fun! Some kids would really love the challenge of drawing a reflected image and I like how you can deviate from that task as well if you rather do a different kind of drawing. And I love how Lily is so clear and helpful with her brother on how to connect the lines! What a nice sister!
Visit PragmaticMom … 6 Things I Can Not Live Without
[Reply]
What a great challenge for your art-loving kiddos, and I LOVE the results! Most of our toys are open-ended, so I don’t think they can be used in an unintended way. I hadn’t thought about it!
Visit Elisa | blissfulE … Vi sings and plays “Rain, Rain”
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Looks like lots of fun! I’ve never seen one of those before!
Visit Megan @ CoffeeCupsandCrayons … Christmas Kids Craft: Angel Ornament and Picture Book
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maryanne Reply:
November 25th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I hadn’t seen one before, either. It’s a very cool toy.
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We haven’t tried tracing! This sounds great!
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maryanne Reply:
November 25th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I think your kids would like it!
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I love that tracer! So cool that they can both use it at the same time!
Visit @NikkiSchwartzVB … ADHD Tips for Parents
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maryanne Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
They can’t actually both trace at the same time – it has to have a slight incline for the reflection to work – but they love using it side by side anyhow :)
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That’s really cool! I’ve never seen something with the plastic in the middle to trace a mirror image. So cute how Lily wants to draw parallel to Johnny. :)
Visit Jen … totally awesome super-cool bible stories {giveaway}
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maryanne Reply:
November 28th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
It’s a very cool toy!
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