AnnMarie Thomas says that hands on education is the way to get kids excited about STEM, as long as the tools are age appropriate. Her daughter was interested in electronics but found prototyping boards difficult to use with small hands. Thomas worked with her students at the University of St Thomas and developed Squishy Circuits, a learning kit that uses play dough to teach the basics of circuits and electronics.
Using water, flour, vegatable oil, salt and alum a dough was created that could conduct electricity. Homemade dough has half the resistance of its commercial counterpart, and when sugar was substituted in for salt the resistance was increased by around 150 times. Using the two dough types together allowed a user, even a five year old user with tiny hands, to build circuits.
Thomas demonstrates the Squishy Circuits in her 2011 TED Talk, Hands-on science with squishy circuits. Plugging two chunks of salt dough into a battery pack with an LED creates a full circuit and creates light, but pushing the chunks together creates a short circuit and the LED no longer lights.
She also demonstrates a motor and a 'sushi circuit' that consists of rings of salt and sugar dough. The sushi circuit shows the difference between parallel and series circuits. Using several LEDs and then adding a motor shows the concept of electrical load.
Curriculum designers, home school teachers and educators all over the world have used Squishy Circuits to teach electronics principles and inspire the study of STEM fields. Thomas's Playful Learning Lab exists to find new means of pushing the boundaries of STEM inspiration and creativity.
Squishy Circuits won a Eureka! Award this year recognizing the best new ideas from Minnesota businesses and nonprofits. Thomas presented the circuits last year at the first White House Maker Faire, and the Squishy Circuits store sold more than 6,000 units in 2014.
This is a great way to get kids excited about electronics, technology and learning. Hands on activities are a simple way to engage and educate students at any level. The simple idea of using play dough to replace wires in a circuit is an incredible tool for learning.
(images courtesy Playful Learning Lab)