Saturday, April 8, 2017

Hack Your Plushie with LA Makerspace

LA Makerspace visited Mt. Washington Elementary on December, Friday 16th and presented Hack Your Plushie!, an e-textile workshop, in partnership with Art Collective After School. The workshop was sponsored by the Kids Made student artists.




LA Makerspace's instructor, Amanda Horowitz, demonstrated the basics of circuits, sensors and switches, and then the students created their own sensor-activated buzzers using a lithium battery, reed sensor and piezo. They learned how to create closed circuit with a switch. The reed sensor in the circuit was triggered when a magnet got too close. Once the sensor was triggered, the switch turned on and the buzzer was activated. The circuit portion took concentration and patience, and all the students rose to the challenge.




Once the kids made buzzers, they participated in the sewing component of the workshop. They used felt to create pockets, capes, satchels, patches and necklaces to conceal their buzzers on or in their plushie. The workshop was challenging and the kids stuck with it, bringing their own solutions and hacks to their individual project. The participants took home their unique creations for the holidays.


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