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How to Make Creative Compass Designs

Creative compass designs can be both beautiful and educational; students use compasses to create designs while they learn about radial symmetry. Each artist can create a unique piece using different paper folds, smaller or larger compass settings and various colors. They can also learn about the ancient art of chip carving, or carving wood using geometric figures like circles, similar to what they will create on paper with a compass.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Flat safety compass
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Colored pencils
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Instructions

    • 1

      Practice with different compass settings on scratch paper. For example, a 4-inch setting creates an 8-inch circle.

    • 2

      Fold a piece of paper in half several times, or fold it diagonally to create a triangle. Open it back up and use the lines as guidelines on which to place the point of the compass. For example, draw a circle in the exact center of the paper by placing the compass on the point where all the lines intersect.

    • 3

      Create a petal design by drawing a series of arcs. Place the compass on the end point of each arc to begin the next one.

    • 4

      Draw a bull's-eye by creating smaller circles within the large one with smaller and smaller compass settings.

    • 5

      Color the design using colored pencils.

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