Get Ready for #PopUpTober!
Find #PopUpTober Information & Inspiration
For a quick reference, please visit our #LightUpPopUpTober resource page.
We’ll be updating our #LightUpPopUpTober resource page during the months of September and October. There, you’ll find the daily prompts, tutorials, templates, and plenty of light-up pop-up inspiration to help you get started with your own creations!
Enjoy 15% off Select Supplies in our Shop
To help you stock up on materials that you might find useful during this challenge, we’re having a LightUpPopUpTober Sale!
Save 15% off on all LEDs (including Circuit Sticker and Launchpad LEDs), Conductive Fabric Tapes (including spools and strips), Pressure Sensor Sheets, and Launchpad Batteries.
Offer applies from 15 Sept-through 31 Oct 2026. Sale does does not apply to Amazon orders or PO’s.
Visit our webstore and use the code: PopUpTober2026
What is #PopUpTober?
PopUpTober is a daily pop-up art challenge that takes place throughout the month of October—an event devised by author-illustrator, pop-up and book artist Keith Allen.
This fall, Chibitronics will again be collaborating with @5am_popup, during his annual #PopUpTober Instagram challenge!
31 Prompts—A Lot of Fun!
Starting back in October of 2019 Keith Allen, a Senior Designer at @amgreetings, has been inviting the world’s paper engineers to bring out the scissors, glue, and paper, to make their creations pop!
A highly anticipated list of 31 prompts—one for each day of the month—invites a mix of seasoned and aspiring paper engineers to create and share pop-up spreads using the hashtag #PopUpTober.
In the seven years that have followed, interest in the event has remained high! Eager paper enthusiasts around the world await the release of each year’s prompts (which are usually released in early September). Come October, participants begin creating, commenting, and building upon one another’s brilliance, contributing as much (or as little) as they are able. For those who don’t have the time or inclination to join the challenge, the event is still great fun for observers!
#LightUpPopUpTober 2026
This October, we (@Chibitronics) are inviting everyone within our ecosystem of paper crafters and makers to join @5am_popup with an additional challenge—to add light to one or more of Keith’s pop-up prompts, and share their #LightUpPopUp with us on Instagram or Facebook!
By piggy-backing off of Keith’s fun challenge, we’re hoping to generate interest in both paper mechanics and paper circuitry—although participants are invited to integrate and share any number of clever light-up strategies.
Since #PopUpTober can be difficult for a single person to do in its entirety, Chibitronics will be participating as a #LightUpPopUpTober team to collectively address each of the 31 prompts. With each volunteer creating something for a single prompt, we’ll have new light-up, pop-up examples to share on our Instagram feed for each day of the challenge.
Follow or Join the Challenge
Like last year, our 2026 team includes a variety of volunteers from a mix of backgrounds— including educators, makers, members of our Design Team, and a star-studded line-up of paper crafters and pop-up engineers!
[The “Slide-to-Swing” mechanism that this pop-up is based upon was orginally designed by Kumpei SHINDO.]
Introducing the Chibitronics #LightUpPopUpTober 2026 Team!
JOIN THE FUN! Share Your Work with Us!
If you are interested in building your paper engineering skills, we hope that you’ll consider creating something during #LightUpPopUpTober 2026 and sharing it with us!
Since this challenge is open to anyone who wishes to participate, we’re cordially inviting YOU to join the fun, by creating one or more #LightUpPopUps and tagging and mentioning us on social media.
Here are the rules for #LightUpPopUpTober 2026!
- Make any kind of pop-up using the word prompts by @5am_popup.
- Pop-ups include a variety of interactive and mechanical cards.
- Integrate a light source (ex. paper circuit, tealight, flashlight, EZ light, etc).
- Post to Instagram in October with the date/prompt given.
- Use the hashtags: #PopUpTober #LightUpPopUpTober #chibitronics
- Mention @chibitronics and @5am_popup