It Pays to Smile - Optical Illusion This started out as just a clever trick to do with an ordinary dollar email to friend
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This started out as just a clever trick to do with an ordinary dollar bill and has turned out to be a leadership demo that really leaves a lasting impression on students. Believe it or not, you can make George Washington's face smile or frown on a dollar bill if you know the secret to this visual foolery!

Materials

A new, crisp one dollar bill

Experiment
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The secret is in the way that you fold the dollar bill. Just follow these simple steps...

Start with George's portrait facing you.
Make a "mountain fold" through the middle of George's left eye. In origami terms, this means to fold the bill away from you.
Make a second mountain fold through the middle of his right eye. Make sure that these creases are sharp.
Make a "valley fold" between the two previous folds so that the crease is between George's eyes and nose.
Pull on the ends of the bill slightly so that you can see his entire face, but make sure that the folds are still present.
Hold the portrait side of the bill in front of you with the face tilted upward. Notice how George smiles at you!
Slowly begin to tilt the bill downward as if George was looking at the floor. Don't take your eyes off George's face because his smile will magically turn into a frown! Be ready for a spontaneous chorus of oohs & ahhs!

Use different dollar bills ($5, $10, $20, $50, even $100) to see if you can alter the emotions of some other presidents. Is Abe hiding a smile?

How does it work?

The George Washington facelift is a great example of an optical illusion. The opposing folds cause the features on the face to bend and contort, depending on how you look at them. Although it's a very simple activity, it's one that you'll do forever!

Additional Info

A fifth grade teacher in Oklahoma shared this optical illusion with her students using their lunch money. As you might imagine, the lunch line was a buzz of activity as kids made George frown and smile. As a follow-up writing activity, the teacher asked her students to write down what they learned by doing the activity. Here are a few of the responses...