Fellow nerd dads and I are hosting my third grade daughter's valentines day party. We are making it a science party. : ) I've decided to build "heart wands" as an electronic craft in order to teach the basics of a circuit.

The craft will be a simple LED wired to an appropriately sized resistor and connected to a 9V via a battery clip. The kids will just twist the wires together and secure with electrical tape to a rod of some sort. My prototype used an empty ballpoint pen tube but I think anything stiff would work. I found some little plastic hearts that can snap over the top so that the whole thing glows. There are really cool.

My daughter loved the prototype except that I don't have an off / on switch of any kind. My fall back is to have the kids simply snap/unsnap the 9v clip from the battery but that is kind of awkward for them and frankly not very cool.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to macgiver a suitable switch out of household supplies i.e. aluminum foil, paper clips, tacks, etc. I'd rather the kids make the switch than buy one because that is a better learning experience. Its best if its a solderless solution as the kids can't use the soldering iron. However, I could always solder a connection ahead of time if necessary.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Dan

 

You could perhaps make a momentary switch out of two thumb tacks and a paper clip. One tack is the contact and the other tack holds down one end of the clip which is bent to not make contact with the other tack unless pressed. Small wires could be wrapped around the point of the tack before it is inserted into the wand to make solderless connections.

 

I was thinking paper clips too, maybe two small ones straightened out into wire (thin wire kids can bend), then both wrapped around the pen shaft to hold them in place. The two springy ends could then be made into simple sprung "hooks" to allow permanent connect/disconnect of the power, ie a SPST switch.

 

Déjà vu. Did we not see this thread last year or the year before?