π Optical Illusions & Frame Rates: Paper Spinners + iCode! π¬π»
Event: Preschool Craft Club – Paper Spinner
When: Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 11:00 AM β 1:00 PM (Drop-in!)
Where: Somerset County Library System, Manville Branch (Children’s Area)
Event link: SCLSNJ Manville Events
Who itβs for: Preschoolers & Early Learners
Why we love it π Did you know that animation is just a trick of the eye? The SCLSNJ Manville Branch is hosting a fun, drop-in “Preschool Craft Club” where early learners will assemble and decorate their very own kinetic paper spinners. When these spinners twirl, the colors and shapes blur together to create an entirely new visual image. We absolutely love crafts like this because they are a fantastic, hands-on introduction to optical illusions and persistence of vision!
How this event aligns with iCode Princeton πβοΈ A blurring paper spinner uses the exact same optical logic as a digital Frame Rate!
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Persistence of Vision (FPS): When you watch a video game or a YouTube video, you aren’t actually seeing a moving image. You are seeing dozens of still pictures flashing across the screen every secondβusually 30 or 60 Frames Per Second (FPS). Your brain blurs them together to create motion, exactly like the paper spinner! In our Digital Arts and YouTube Creator Tracks, we teach older students how to manipulate Frame Rates to create smooth, high-quality video content.
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Sprite Animation: We introduce this concept to our youngest learners too! In our STEAM Junior and Scratch Tracks, kids learn how to create digital Flipbooks and animate “Sprites.” They practice taking simple 2D shapes, slightly altering them frame-by-frame, and coding them to cycle quickly so their characters magically come to life on the screen!
Join the fun, then keep the momentum going at iCode ππ Create an optical illusion at the library, then bring that world-class curiosity to iCode Princeton where we teach you how to animate it!
π Explore iCode Princeton: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj
π£ Progression-based Belts (Kβ12): https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/belts/
π See whatβs running now: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/activity-finder/
ποΈ Ready to build the future? Book a Free Trial Class: https://icodeschool.com/princeton-nj/book-a-free-trial-class/
