Halloween DIY: How to Make Squishy Circuits

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 2/10
AGES: 4+
BUILD TIME: 2 Hours
PARTS COST: $35-$40

Ingredients and Materials

? 3 cups white flour
? ? cup iodized salt
? 3 tablespoons cream of tartar
? 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
? Food coloring
? 1 cup tap water
? ? cup sugar
? ? cup distilled water
? Dry and liquid measuring cups and spoons
? 3-quart saucepan
? Two sturdy spatulas
? Waxed paper
? One medium ceramic or stainless-steel mixing bowl
? One 9-volt battery
? Two wire leads with alligator clips on each end
? 3-to-5-watt component LED bulbs in a variety of colors

Sculpt your Squishy Circuit Masterpiece

The Jarvis family made a skull with red LED eyes for Halloween. It consisted of two layers. The top one?the mask?was insulating dough. Because this was made with sugar and distilled water, both of which lack the ions that conduct electricity, the dough had an insulating effect. They placed the mask over two conductive dough strips separated by an insulating one. Conductive dough contains table salt and tap water, which form an ion-rich electrolyte; electricity passes, or is conducted, from ion to ion.

The insulating strip lies laterally beneath the eyes. The conductive strips were close together so the kids could stick the long and short legs of the LED into the positively and negatively charged dough, respectively, to complete the electrical circuit and light up the LEDs.

Create the Conductive Dough

1. Combine the dry ingredients in the saucepan: 1 cup flour, ? cup salt, and 3 tablespoons cream of tartar. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, food coloring of choice, and 1 cup tap water and stir with a spatula.

2. Place the pan over low to medium heat and stir until the mixture is lumpy. Keep stirring, incorporating all of the ingredients, scraping the bottom of the pan so that they don't stick to it.

3. After the mixture forms a ball, set it aside to cool on waxed paper dusted with flour.

4. Gradually add about ? cup flour, kneading the dough until it is the consistency of Play-Doh.

Make the Insulating Dough

1. Combine 1 cup flour, ? cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a medium bowl and stir with a spatula.

2. Add food coloring of choice to ? cup distilled water.

3. Stir 1 tablespoon of the liquid at a time into the flour?sugar mixture and combine. Gradually alternate adding the remaining water and kneading in about ? cup flour until the texture is like Play-Doh.

Create the Circuit and Add Power and Lights

1. Roll two pieces of conductive dough and one piece of insulating dough into short cylinders like little hot dogs. Smush together the three pieces, with the insulating dough in the middle. Make sure that the pieces of conductive dough are not touching each other.

2. Clip one end of each electrical lead to the positive and negative battery terminals, and connect the other ends to the pieces of conductive dough.

2. Insert the shorter of the two prongs of an LED into the conductive dough attached to the negative terminal, and the longer prong into the positively charged dough. You have just completed the circuit, and the light should be glowing!

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/halloween-diy-how-to-make-squishy-circuits-13887707?src=rss

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