DIY Wearable Technology – Fashionable STEM & Circuits for the Makers of Tomorrow
NOTE: the Girls that Make program is no longer being offered by Creation Crate, but they now offer many amazing courses including engineering, advanced engineering, chemistry, junior robotics and junior engineering. Definitely go and check out their amazing program.
Creation Crate is my favourite educational subscription box. It is a fantastic circuits and coding lesson series that is challenging and highly educational. Perfect for those tweens and teens that LOVE to tinker. When they told me they were coming out with a new subscription box focused on wearable technology, I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
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GIRLS AND STEM
As a girl who loves STE(A)M, I see the lack of women in the STEM field as a big issue. When I create activities for our readers, my goal is to always make the activities as inclusive as possible. Regardless of gender or special needs. I firmly believe women are just as capable as men in the field of STEM. So why are so few women working in this field? It’s a complicated topic that researchers are continuing to investigate. The one thing they all say is that we need to start sparking an interest and passion in STEM at a young age in girls. That’s why this new Girls That Make crate is so awesome.
Now let me say right away, I actually cringe a little when I see any products, especially STEM products, labeled specifically for girls or boys. I really believe it is about interest and passions, not about gender. But studies have shown that parents will often still shop based on gender norms, so the need to specifically target girls with STEM products is needed. I wish it wasn’t, but that’s a conversation for another day.
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY – Cosplay, LARPing and Halloween
That said, I firmly believe that making wearable technology is something tweens and teens of both genders will enjoy. We love cosplay and have done LARPing over the years. Creating amazing costuming is not a gender specific interest. Even if you don’t cosplay, what kid doesn’t want to have the coolest Halloween costume ever? With wearable technology you are taking your costuming skills to the next level while learning critical skills for the future. And that is something we can all love and appreciate.
GIRLS THAT MAKE
Creation Crate promotes the Makers of Tomorrow, so it only makes sense that this new program is also focused on inspiring the makers of tomorrow. Our kit arrived with almost everything we needed. We had to supply a ruler, paper, scissors (make sure they are very sharp, conductive thread is tough!) and some Sharpies.
We ran into one issue with our kit. It arrived with the battery in the battery holder with the switch turned on. Sure enough, the battery was completely dead. So we had to go into our tinker kit and find a replacement battery. Thankfully we always have our tinker kit fully stocked!
It was a lot of fun testing and building circuits with the alligator clips as we read through the information on electricity, circuits and coding in the booklet.
TIME TO BUILD OUR LIGHT UP CUFF!
Just like we have come to expect from Creation Crate, the instructions were easy to follow, breaking down everything into easy steps. You can see the process here in this video.
Unlike Creation Crate there is no coding with this kit, it is focused only on the engineering of the cuff and building of the circuits. I don’t know if future boxes will have a coding component. Coding is discussed in the booklet though, and if your young maker is interested, Creation Crate has coding covered.
Girls that Make is designed for 12 years old and up. It definitely requires some knowledge or experience with sewing. Sewing with conductive thread is HARD! If you have never done any sewing, this would be quite difficult. Trying to thread the needle was insanely hard and took a lot of patience. Not to mention the actual sewing process (and knotting the thread). It was all much more challenging than working with regular thread.
But was the challenge worth it?
Oh heck yes!! This light up cuff is amazing! Perfect for a costume. We also learned a lot building the kit about how conductive thread works, which will provide inspiration for future projects.
In fact, we were inspired to make ours extra special by adding some color using our beloved Sharpies. It was easy to do and could be easily customized to make any costume.
Once again the makers of Creation Crate have come out with a cool new program that I am sure will be a HUGE hit with kids that love to tinker. If you are looking for a STEM subscription box that explores engineering, circuits, coding and more, check out Creation Crate and Girls That Make. These are fantastic educational box programs for your Maker of Tomorrow!
Grab your Maker of Tomorrow their very own subscription to Creation Crate or Girls That Make and watch their passions, knowledge and STEM skills soar!
