STUDENT WORK

Circuits

IDEAS curricula introduce students to paper circuits. Using copper tape, batteries, and LEDs, the possibilities are endless. From re-creating magical objects from favorite movies to designing cards and signs to fabricating items to populate imagined worlds, including light in a creation is admittedly one of the most challenging activities in the curricula and always brings tremendous satisfaction when makers’ see their ideas illuminate.

Using a Fandom wiki page for artistic inspiration, a middle-school student recreates the Gem Rejuvenator, a magical weapon from a favorite movie called Steven Universe.

The picture on the left shows a student hand holding a paper circuit. There is a rectangle of copper tape with a strip of tape across the middle. In the middle of the top and center lines are single lit LEDs. The picture on the right shows a red card. The card reads Mom. The picture on the left shows a green card. The card reads Dad.

Creating light up drawings and cards is an approachable, fun, and creative way to apply paper circuit making skills. A sketch was drawn, a simple circuit was designed and tested, and voila, cards springs to life.

Once makers get the hang of making a simple circuit with 1 LED, they often want to experiment with figuring out how to get multiple LEDs to light up. And once they do, a door opens for making more elaborate creations, like this card celebrating Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

A small bird made of a yellow and an orange pompom, colorful feathers, googly eyes, and a felt beak. A yellow piece of paper with copper tape sits behind it.

Using a Fandom wiki page for artistic inspiration, a middle-school student recreates the Gem Rejuvenator, a magical weapon from a favorite movie called Steven Universe.

There are two pictures. The picture on the left shows a a piece of construction paper folded in half, sitting on top of a piece of cardboard. The folded paper is colored black, with hand-written letters in different colors spelling Let the Crystals Glow. A green LED light is illuminated. The cardboard platform is decorated with construction paper and colorful beads. The picture on the right shows the inside of the paper cave and is filled with colored beads and buttons.

A final project from the world-building curriculum, LEDs light the sign that draw us in to the fantastical world of a cave filled glowing crystals.

A paper bonfire made out of rolled brown paper for the base and red, yellow, and orange paper crinkled paper at the top. An illuminated LED is tucked in between the colored paper.

Made by a teacher during a World-building curriculum training, a paper circuit with a yellow LED was integrated into a bonfire that sat on the beach of an ideal “day off” world.