**Disclaimer: This post may contain an embarrassing amount of “light” puns. You’ve been warned. I can’t help myself.
Looking for a bright idea for that brings STEAM alive in your classroom? I’ve been exploring with Squishy Circuits and suddenly learning about electric currents, cause and effect, circuits, collaboration, experimentation, forming hypothesis… all the good stuff that STEAM is made of. And best of all? It’s creative. Make something that lights up. Make something that moves. Make something that makes sound. When I was a kid labeling a diagram of a circuit, nobody ever got out the play-dough. That’s probably why I don’t remember any of it, either.
The Squishy Circuits kit comes with a battery pack, a variety of colored LEDs, a motor, and a buzzer, and a recipe for dough. You open the box and you feel a bit like a scientist, creating Frankenstein in the lab, and you might even make the evil laugh, but I cannot confirm that.
The materials are so easy to manipulate, they make you naturally start thinking. Questions like, “What happens if…” and “How might I….” This is the perfect activity to spare the direct instruction lecture and just get started playing. Explore what happens with the two different types of dough. Check out what colors the lights are. See what happens when more lights are added. And the possibilities? They are endless! Check out this Google Image Search for “Squishy Circuit Kit” and see what the possibilities are. This is guaranteed to ignite your student’s learning, and yours too. We’re trying them out in Kindergarten, but I can’t imagine there is an age limit on squishy circuits. If there is, it’s well past 37, because I enjoy them, too.
More information can be found at:
- Read AnnMarie Thomas’s Post and watch her TED Talk.
- Watch Sylvia’s Mini Maker Show on Squishy Circuits
Or my brightest idea for you? Visit the Squishy Circuit Store, order a kit, and PLAY. And if anyone asks, let them know you are involved in a highly scientific experiment involving the maneuver of conductive and resistant substances to increase the glow of LED’s. And let them know your kindergarteners are doing that, too.