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How to Make a Mobius Strip for Kids

I’m going to say straight away that the math behind how to make a Mobius strip is beyond me. Math is definitely not my strongest suit, and this form of infinite math is quite puzzling. However, I’m always up for some good no-prep STEM challenges, and as far as math challenges go, this is a really fun one!

Nevertheless, just because we don’t fully understand something doesn’t mean we can’t share our Mobius strip for kids activities! Add these math challenges to your list of fun math activities for kids!

The Mobius strip is a "magic" math activity that kids will love. Learn how to make a Mobius strip with this DIY Mobius strip for kids.

Kids will love discovering that the complicated math equation above is the secret behind this simple twisted design.

What is a Mobius Strip?

The Mobius strip is called a nonorientable surface. According to mathematicians, the Mobius strip is called a “surface with a boundary” just like a cylinder. The parametric equation for a Mobius strip is as follows:

 -R^2y+x^2y+y^3-2Rxz-2x^2z-2y^2z+yz^2=0.

The entire strip is a cubic surface even though it is flat.

Aside from all of the complicated math, Monkey was quite entertained and puzzled with how the simple strip of paper became an infinite loop.

You can learn more about mobius strips here from someone who has a lot more math skills than I have. 

elementary stem challenge cards

More Hands-on Math Activities

You may also like to try these other fun math activities! And if you need even more ideas, check out the complete list of math activities for kids!

how to make a mobius strip

Our Favorite STEM Supplies

We keep these STEM supplies on hand to help us out with any STEM project we want to try!

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How to Make a Mobius Strip

Try this activity for making a mobius strip! Learning how to make a mobius strip is a fun math STEM activity that all kids should try at least once!

Follow along with our directions to learn how to make a Mobius strip for kids. And there are lots of other fun Mobius strip activities and hands-on math activities that you can do as well!

elementary stem challenge cards
How to Make a Mobius Strip

How to Make a Mobius Strip

Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy

A mobius strip is a strip of paper, twisted once, then with the ends connected. Because of complicated math, this creates an endless loop between the two sides of the paper.

Making a mobius strip is one way to introduce theoretical math in a concrete way.

Materials

  • 2 colors of crayon
  • Paper

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Tape

Instructions

  1. Cut a strip of paper about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long. Color one side blue and one side red (or use whatever colors you have).
  2. Twist the strip of paper in the center once and tape the two ends of the paper together. You should have a figure eight shape.
  3. Have the children trace the path of one of the colors with a third color.
  4. Rather than reach the end of the strip, they will start drawing on the second color in an infinite loop. It's pretty awesome.
  5. Take the project a step further by having the children cut the piece of paper in half lengthwise. This will create an even bigger single loop big enough for kids to step through. It feels like magic, but it's just math!

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