How to Make a Sundial

Are you looking for an outdoor family nature project? Here is a cool idea for a sunny day. Make a SUNDIAL.

A sundial is a device that uses the position of the sun to cast a shadow to tell the time. As the sun moves across the sky the shadow moves. According to Wikipedia the oldest sundial found by archeologists is dated around 1500 BCE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial

When I started my project it was very cloudy so it got more decoration than I intended. It was going to be bare wood with a light clear coat. Our weather was cloudy and rainy for several days so I had to postpone it repeatedly. Grrr.

Technically you could make a quick sundial using a stick in the ground. Or you could use paper and a pencil stuck in playdough to make a sundial in a pinch. But if you want to make one like mine, here is the scoop.

You will need:

a scrap of wood (mine was 9 x 13 inches)
dowel (mine was 10 inches)
drill
tape measure or ruler
12 rocks or gems
1 screw 2 1/2 inches long
hot glue gun or other glue (optional)
watch or clock with an alarm
pencil
spray paint or varnish
craft paints and brush

Cut the wood to a size you choose. I would have preferred a 12 x12 square but I had this scrap 9 x 13 left over so we used it. I also had this dowel that was a leftover and already 10 inches long.

Measure and mark the centre of your board.

Screw the dowel into the centre of the wood. This was hard to take a photo of. Put the dowel on the ground, place the block of wood on top. Ensure the x marking the centre on the wood is right over top of the dowel. Drill the screw through both pieces.

We could see the clouds coming, so we decided to start the time markings the next day and for now paint the sundial to help it last longer outdoors. If you have a partial can of spray paint or wood protector…this project won’t take much.

How to make a Sundial. Try this easy outdoor, nature, educational project with your kids! mybrightideasblog.com

Spray the board and allow to dry. Tip over to paint the bottom and allow the bottom side to dry.

Once it is dry you can decide where you will have the most sun in your day. You could raise it up with bricks or a tree stump. We have a lot of shade in our backyard which normally we appreciate. But for this project it made things difficult.

Now seeing the giant rain clouds moving in. We decided to post pone and begin again tomorrow. In the meantime, we could jazz it up a bit.

Using craft paint we put wide stripes on the dowel part of the sundial.

We had a package of dollar store polished rocks so we painted a white circle on each one. This will be our pretty markers for hours. Print the numbers: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

A SUNNY DAY FINALLY ARRIVES

We did follow some of rules for making a sundial. Such as the pole needs to tilt slightly to the north. Use a compass to determine the north pole. I twisted the dowel to loosen it and put a tiny rock in that space to tilt it. If you are in the southern hemisphere you will need to use the compass to find the south pole and tilt the dowel to the south.

Just before noon put your sundial in a sunny place. The shadow of the dowel will be your first mark to write in the number “12”. I wanted that to be right at the top like a regular clock.

This is going to take more than one day to complete so make sure that no one moves it. Maybe add a note that says “do not touch” so it doesn’t move.

Next, set the alarm for 1’oclock and come back to write on the number where the shadow hits for 1pm. Write “1”. Set the alarm for 2pm and then 3pm and continue to repeat every hour until the sun sets.

After sundown, set the alarm for 7am so you can begin recording the morning time marks.

If you are going to leave your sundial outside and you haven’t already painted or varnished the sundial you should do that next to water proof it. A clear coat on the rocks is a good idea too. You don’t want the paint to shift off the stones. That can happen on polished stones.

After the times are all marked, you might want to secure the rocks so they don’t get carried away. You can use a hot glue gun (fast and easy) or E6000 glue (slow, stinky but stronger).

Our finished project does not look like a clock like other sundials. Maybe it was moved. If your kids are older you might want to do more research and see how the impact of the tilt of the earth’s access. It’s August now, will the shadows still line up in September? This project has the potential to be quite educational. Telling time, shadows, the earths axis, the solar system, using a compass,

This picture is linked to a nice pencil and paper sundial blog.

Children who spend time outdoors are more likely to be happier, healthier, problems solvers and more creative. Check out this blog post about a paper sundial. https://hubpages.com/education/Reconnecting-Children-With–Nature