Last year, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel with Gina Seymour focusing on diversity in Maker Spaces at SxSWEDU. I am a fan of her recent book, Makers with a Cause, which inspired me to try out a new project during a recent Maker Monday. Students designed and created light up pill boxes to donate to an elder care facility not far from our school.
The supplies needed for this project included the following:
The supplies needed for this project included the following:
- Lithium batteries
- LED lights
- Copper tape
- LilyPad button board
- Small boxes
- Markers
- Stickers
- Scotch Tape
First, students decorated their boxes with craft supplies. I discovered some old stickers in our library cabinets and brought in a large box of washable markers to spark creativity. Then, using a template, students put together their circuit and embedded a button to allow the light to turn off and on. In order to facilitate the process, we pre-cut small pieces of paper for students to be able to assemble the technology to easily fit within the lid of the pill box.
In order to ensure the batteries would not drain, we incorporated the LilyPad button so that pill box users could turn the lights on and off, as needed. Younger students received some help from myself and our media assistant, Lisa Pritchett, to put their circuit together.
This was a great project for students in kindergarten through fifth grade because the little ones could spend their time decorating the boxes and learning about the technology within them. Meanwhile, the second graders and up could spend time decorating their boxes and putting together the technology to install within the box lids.
After creating 48 pill boxes on Maker Monday, a group of second grade students were able to deliver them to the residents at Somerby Sandy Springs, an elder care facility not too far from our school. We arrived during breakfast and the residents could not have been happier to see us. The students handed out the pill boxes, explained the technology component and how to turn on the lights, and visited with the residents.
We were pleasantly surprised to discover that one of our fourth grade teacher's grandmothers is a resident there and delighted in meeting her. What a treat for us all!
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