Operation Game Brick

The teaching and learning of invention literacy is often locked behind many pre-requisite skills and expensive STEM toys. Scrappy Circuits breaks down these barriers to learning to invent through using a modular system of bricks build by the learner and sourced for commonly found objects.

In this session, they will build off the battery and buzzer bricks and create an Operation Brick.

WATCH LIVE on the Family Maker Camp Facebook page or on the Kids Make: Youtube channel.

Materials lists:

• Cardboard box
• Some extra cardboard
• Aluminum foil
• 2 small binder clips
• 2 popsicle sticks
• An object to remove from the box
• Scissors
• Marker
• Glue Stick

Steps:

1. Take your cardboard box and tape it shut.
2. Position the object you want to remove on your cardboard box.
3. Trace a wide outline of the object.
4. Carefully cut around your outline.
5. Add glue from a glue stick to the edge.
6. Line the edge of your cut window with strips of aluminum foil. You can use multiple pieces. Connect and secure these strips on the top of your box with tape or a glue stick. Just make sure that you don’t add any tape to the edge. Try and use a few large pieces instead of many small ones.
7. Add a binder clip to the foiled edge in a spot that has a lot of aluminum foil.
8. Wrap a popsicle stick in aluminum foil.
9. Wrap a second popsicle stick the same way.
10. Cut a scrap of cardboard that is one inch wide. It doesn’t matter (now) how long it is.
11. Place a popsicle stick on top of the cardboard. Fold the cardboard at the edge of the stick.
12. Repeat this folding until you have a zig-zag piece of cardboard the width of a popsicle stick. You will only need about five sections. Cut off the slack.
13. Place the cardboard zig-zag at the end of one wrapped popsicle stick.
14. Add the second wrapped popsicle stick on top.
15. Clip around the two popsicle sticks and the cardboard.
16. Label the box “Operation Brick”.

Learn more about Scrappy Circuits and our hosts Michael Carroll and Chris Connors.