If you’ve ever considered trying to make your own version of Ice King’s crown with a digital flair, you’re in luck.
Cartoon Network, Microsoft MakeCode and Adafruit announced Monday that they are teaming up for a set of new projects and tutorials for kids to learn the basics of coding and stretch their creative muscles.
In addition to electronic Ice King (or Princess Bubblegum) crowns, these new DIY projectsinclude instructions for making a light-up Darwin, a Finn lamp, a BMO music box and more.
The hope is that by using Cartoon Network’s fan-favorite characters from shows such as “Adventure Time” and “The Amazing World of Gumball” in projects incorporating Microsoft and Adafruit’s tech tools, they will appeal even to kids who wouldn’t consider themselves coders.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
