I've been trying to think of ways to get the girls interested in electronics because 1. Its relatively safe. 2. Favors individuals with small hands 3. Is the foundation of all electronic devices we use in all shapes and forms 4. Is the foundation for logic, physics AND computer programming.
I started by hooking up batteries to LEDs and throwing resistors in there to see how the brightness changed. Explored series and parallel Replaced the LEDs with speakers. etc. Next I bought a solar cell and hooked it up to a multimeter to try to show the girls how the voltage numbers change depending on the amount of light hitting the cell. This was a little abstract so I went back to connecting the cell up to LEDs and speakers which is a little more tangible.
The girls also really liked switches and they are useful to throw into every circuit. Switching the device off and on gives them more hands on feeling and allows them to look a little more closely at the circuit being made.
In this picture Ellie is sorting the green and yellow wires into appropriate buckets. She really liked doing that.
