This fall semester saw some new projects completed at the Boys and Girls Club in Bloomington due to a new group of club members. Every Monday and Wednesday the youth attended the e-Textile Club to work on projects. The biggest hit of the season were the Halloween buckets and bags! Youths first designed parallel circuits on paper, then using traditional LEDs to sew circuits using curled LEDs typically for the eyes. (Many are excellent LED curlers now : -)
Many youth made the bags for their own trick-or-treating candy collecting while another made a bag for his little sister to use...what a thoughtful big brother! It was discovered later that some were even used to pass out candy to neighborhood trick or treaters and were a huge hit!
After the influx of Halloween projects the youth were excited to have a variety of shaped beads brought in to play with. They quickly decided to make circuit bead necklaces, ankle and wrist bracelets. The bead projects could be completed in one day so they could make them for friends, teachers and relatives while still learning the basics of circuitry.
The semester also saw the return of the favorite circuit t-shirt like this one with a smiling Woodstock on it...always a hit! The designer carefully marked where she strategically wanted the LilyPad LEDs to be placed on Woodstock to highlight his eyes and smile. The semester ended too soon for the e-Textile club members...as they wanted the club to meet 5 days a week not just 2 : -)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment