I love hands-on learning and creating, and I don’t think teachers always get enough opportunity to experience this kind of making. For the past few years, I have done Scrappy Circuit workshops as regular breakout sessions. They are always been fun but a little overwhelming in terms of preparation and execution. Getting 25 people to tear apart tea lights, build bricks and get their LED to light all within 45 minutes can be a challenge.

I decided to redesign the session as a playground where people can tinker with either pre-made bricks or try building the original Scrappy Circuits from scratch. I finished up building my bricks and worked on the handout that will guide playground visitors in creating their circuits. Next is what I think of as the most fun part: doing some of my own inventing to show off examples of what you can do with these very easy circuits. I’m also going to show how this basic knowledge can then be used with other supplies and devices.

For now, here is the handout I created: