Makey Makeys

In the spring, we had a few upper elementary and middle school classes try out the Makey Makey kits. Each Makey Makey kit costs about $50 and we found that it works best with 2 - 3 students working with each kit. The Makey Makeys provided the kids a creative tool to invent and engineer different types of circuits.

All of the 4th graders at Rosemary Elementary School experimented with the Makey Makeys as a part of their electricity science unit. After learning about insulators and conductors, Amelia Von Gerer, Erin Ito, and Jessica Fidiam's classes used the Makey Makey's to test different objects around the classroom. Their favorite test objects were humans! Holding hands, we started with a two person circuit, and eventually added the entire class. Students then used a Chromebook, playdough, foil, and other conductors to create a piano using http://makeymakey.com/piano/










The 6th Graders in Terri Hughes' class at Campbell Middle School also used the Makey Makeys to create video game controllers. They were particularly proud to use the controllers to play the original games that they had coded on Scratch. Some of the objects that they used were salt dough, apples, bananas, pencil lead, paper clips, and pickles. They also got really creative designing Makey Makey connectors out of foil bracelets, arm bands, and finger sleeves!

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