Day 12 - Making can light up your day

Today's post in our March Maker Madness series features two HOW to Make projects that delight both young and old!  These two projects are perfect for getting started with making in that they introduce materials and skills to new makers in ways that are easy accessible and leave the maker wondering - "If I can do this, what else is possible?".  These two activities leave new makers feeling confident, proud of their accomplishment, and wondering what they might make next.

Thank you to Caty Wolfe and her students for sharing their recent success making light up cards and light up wands with senior members of their community.

Sometimes all it takes is the time and opportunity to light up someone’s day. The students in Caty Wolfe's Pre-Tech at CTE (Center for Technology  Essex)  got to experience this first hand as they assisted senior citizens from their community in making cards and wands light up using coin celled batteries, copper tape, and colorful LEDs.




Every fall at the Center for Technology, Essex, hundreds of senior citizens are invited in for Community Service Days. This year, Caty Wolfe and her Pre-Tech class decided to introduce the seniors to circuits.

 Each student practiced making paper circuits and magic wands to firm up their skills before working with the seniors. Each student worked one on one with a guest to guide them through making a light up card or a magic wand (or both in some cases!).

One woman stayed the entire afternoon because she was so intrigued!

There are many ways to introduce circuits to kids, but adults appreciate it as well! Kids are so desensitized to technology that it is hard to get the ‘wow factor’. Adults didn’t have copper tape or LEDs when they were learning.

Caty has made magic wands with seniors a few times, and they are almost more excited than kids. Once at a Maker Faire, she was working with an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair who had just had cataract surgery and had gauze on his eye. His motor skills weren’t great so he had a tough time with the magic wand. She helped him, and as it glowed, his eyes lit up. His son, who was pushing the chair, then shared that his dad was an electrical engineer. Knowing that, she shared the science and learning involved and he was glowing almost as much as the wand.


You can find step by step directions on HOW to make both the Magic Wands  and Light up Cards as well as all the supplies you need at The Imagination Toolbox  (a website that Caty started to help teachers get started with making).

Come learn with Caty this summer at the Create Make Learn summer  Institute.  Her patience and skills make her an invaluable instructor on the Create Make Learn instructor team.