In my latest tutorial, Reed Switch Shadow Box, I’ll show you how to use one or two reed switches (magnet on) to control lights (and the mood) in a story-telling shadow box! The example below uses two reed switches (magnet on). One triggers a path with white LEDs and the other triggers a path with […]
Brighten the Night with a Bookish Light using Chibitronics LED Stickers
In my latest tutorial, I’ll be sharing a Carousel Book Light that combines paper circuits with paper crafting to make a versatile structure that may be turned into a hanging ornament, tabletop display, or nightlight. Changing the colors of the LEDs or the paper you use, as well as the shapes you choose for the […]
Make a Light Up Leaf With LED Stickers (Video Tutorial)
Fall is a terrific time to get cozy around a warm fire and sip apple cider. And, if you’re lucky, it’s also a fantastic time to notice the subtle changes in nature, such as leaves changing color and drifting to the ground in crunchy, colorful piles! No matter where you might find yourself at this […]
Playground Operatronics is Something to Sing About
Powered through an Infosys Foundation grant, geared toward bringing the Playground Opera program and Chibitronics’ circuit technologies together to support Title 1 schools in the United States, Chibitronics and Opera on Tap have combined forces to create Playground Operatronics, a music education and STEAM program for kids! In September 2022, Playground Opera teaching artists (TAs) […]
Light Up a Dissolve Card with Chibitronics LED Stickers
In my latest tutorial, Dissolve Card: Light Up Picture Switcher, I’ll show you how to make a light-up version of a Victorian Era mechanism known as a dissolve, or dissolve card. This paper mechanics project combines a trick of the eye (and pictures that flip) with a little electronic trickery of our own — Circuit […]
Pop Up Rainbow Card With a Sliding Switch
In my newest tutorial, Rainbow Pop Up Card, we’ll be exploring a couple of eye-popping paper circuit techniques that are as good as gold! In addition to showing you how to create an interactive rainbow card that pops up and lights up when it’s opened, you’ll learn about an innovative sliding switch mechanism that may […]
Lift to Light: An Electrified Cobweb Card
In our first reed switch tutorial, Magical Magnetism: Intro to Reed Switches (Normally Open), we introduced the most common type of reed switch, demonstrated how to use one in a circuit, and showed how to make a magnetic wand that can trigger any circuit you make with one. In this follow up tutorial, Magical Magnetism: Intro […]
Magical Magnetic Wand & Chibitronics Reed Switch (Magnet On)
Magnets, like wands, are magical! In my tutorial, Magical Magnetism: Intro to Reed Switches (Magnet On), I’ll show you how to make a magnetic wand that can trigger a circuit you make with a reed switch. A reed switch and magnet are an intriguing duo possessing magical qualities that may be applied in countless ways. […]
Introducing the Chibitronics Paper Circuits STEAM Educator’s Guide
We have worked with hundreds of educators around the world who have incorporated Chibitronics into their teaching, but we have never before had an all-in-one resource to help them get started. Enter…the Paper Circuits STEAM Educator’s Guide! This 185-page guide was written with both K-12 and informal educators in mind. It includes 19 arts-integrated lesson […]
Join us for Pathfinders Summer 2022 – Paper Circuits and Coding Across the Curriculum
K-12 US public school teachers! Chibitronics is excited to join Infosys Foundation’s virtual #InfyPathfinders Summer Institute, exclusively at Infosys.org/PathfindersOnline. Use this link to create a free account today to register for our course PAPER CIRCUITS AND CODING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM. Apply now for and choose one of summer’s 7-week courses: Every Wednesday, 7:00 PM – 9:30 […]
Lessons from a National Lab: Building a Fully Remote STEM Program
< Berkeley Lab’s SAGE Camp Summer 2021 > In spring of 2021, the K12 group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) – one of the first research institutions in the network of 17 national labs managed by the Dept. of Energy – began planning for a second, pandemic-ready, online-only program for its annual summer camp, […]
Featured Educator – Shiela Lee
Master teacher and coding instructor Shiela Lee works in New York City. A certified special education and general education instructor, she spoke with us about her teaching practice, her professional networks, and work she’s done with paper circuitry in her classroom. As she says, “teaching and coding require patience, persistence, and creativity.” CHIBI: Tell us […]