Take Apart Fun and Learning About Electronics

(Logo created by Heidi Gates of Blue Platypus)

Years ago I was getting rid of some small electronics, and instead of throwing them away, I decided to turn it into a learning station in my third grade classroom.  My students LOVED opening the things up to find out what was inside!  Last year we had a take apart station for Sunday School and the kids turned the guts of the electronics into wall art. Take Apart stations are an awesome way to expose children to electronics, circuitry, and give them insight to what products are made of!

The Hornung Imagination Chapter had 2 weeks of take apart action, and they had a wonderful time!  Fortunately, I also had the help of extra parents too! Last week the kids took apart their small electronics, and today they turned the dissembled parts into imaginative creations.  From games to robots...the chapter members collaborated and created some cool things.  Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks!

TAKE APART DAY 1

 As the kids discovered the circuits, I walked around with the SparkFun Inventors Kit to show them what the parts looked like before they were soldered into the electronic.  It was neat to have them make the connection with the resistors. We are going to focus on circuitry later on this spring, so this was a great pre-teaching experience for them!

 Kids were super pumped to manipulate the parts and make things move! Gears were a favorite!

TAKE APART DAY 2

Each child put their electronic guts into 1-2 gallon ziplock bags, and they were able to take their bags today and get to work on making something from the pieces.  Creativity was flowing as the little bits and pieces turned into many cool things.

 The students above collaborated to create one large, awesome robot for their classroom.  I am sure Mrs. Giannandrea is going to love it!  I was very proud of how well they worked together as a team!

 Even the students that were not here last week were welcomed into new groups! There were plenty of spare parts to share!

 The CD Player above was combined with a dissembled computer mouse, and a super cool carnival game was created!

 This student did bring her small parts back this week, but that didn't stop her from creating!  She went to the odds and ends that I had out for the kids and created this creature! Toothpicks for teeth, a gear for an eye, a goggly eye for the other eye, and a clothespin!  We may just use this type of an idea for a cute Valentine activity.

 Safety glasses were a hit!  Perhaps we should invest in a chapter set!  The above alarm clock pieces were turned into a house with the addition of a cereal box and glue! Thankfully his mom was rocking the hot glue gun station!

One of the best parts of Imagination Chapter creations is the home sharing.  My daughter couldn't wait to share her game with her brother and her dad right when she walked through the door...she didn't even wait to take her coat off!

Once again...give the kids time, some odds and ends, and they will let their imagination take over!  (And I bet they were able to learn a thing or two about engineering, circuits, motion, etc. along the way!)

Here are some video highlights as well!  Enjoy!

1/23/2015 Update: Look at the wonderful tweet that was sent this morning!  

Again...the sharing and celebrating is an important part of developing creativity!