Scrappy Circuits, Teaching Kids to Invent and Build Circuits from Everyday Items
Scrappy Circuits is a concept and book by Michael Carroll. The premise is simple: teaching kids how to think like inventor/creators, and then, getting them to see the everyday world around them as parts for realizing their inventions. Dollar Store electronic devices like tea lights, binder clips, cardboard, and other common parts and supplies become the building blocks for dozens of beginner creations while teaching kids to think far beyond these basics.
Scrappy Circuits is a network of cardboard pieces (known as bricks) with dissected electronic elements attached to them. Binder clips that act as terminals for electricity to travel through each brick. Bricks can be connected using alligator clips or you can make your own Scrappy Clips.
The first five Scrappy Circuits bricks, known as the Core Bricks, can be made with some office supplies and an LED tealight for around one dollar. Educators can build this with their class for around twenty dollars. Each learner will be able to keep their bricks and continue to explore and invent. The learning doesn’t stop there! Plans to make 30+ more bricks from common and/or inexpensive and more than 15 different projects to get your inventing started.
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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, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, 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 is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
