Math Art: Spirolaterals

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If you are looking for a fun way to integrate math and art, try drawing some spirolaterals!

You can also find even more ideas in this post: Amazing Math Art Projects for Kids.

What are Spirolaterals?

Spirolaterals are a beautifully artistic mathematical project. They are created by drawing a set of lines increasing in length while turning in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. It is tricky to describe in words, so you need to look at the pictures to understand what I mean. But I promise, it is simple and fun to do!

You can easily draw them on graph paper by counting the number of squares as you increase in length.  Spirolaterals make cool geometric designs that are fun to color and decorate, too!

Math topics you can teach from this activity are counting, multiplication, and angles.

Materials Needed:

Graph paper
Pencil
Markers or Colored Pencils

How to Draw a Spirolateral

We will start with the number three since it is the first one that makes much of a shape as you can see from the image above.

On graph paper, draw a line that is one square length. Turn down 90 degrees and draw a line two squares long. Turn left 90 degrees and draw a line that is three squares long. turn up 90 degrees and start with number one again. Continue rotating and following the pattern until you return back to where you began. In the picture above, you can see the black dot representing my starting points.

Try it with other numbers. See which numbers make closed shapes and which do not.

Try drawing some spirolaterals on triangle graph paper. Download Triangle Graph Paper Now!

Check out another fun way to teach Spirolaterals from my friend Erica at What Do We Do All Day. 

Find more awesome math art activities in my book Math Art and Drawing Games for Kids.