By Super Awesome Sylvia and her dad, James

Are you curious about experimenting with electronics, but the fear of electric shock or soldering iron burns keep you away?

Why not try squishy circuits!  With a special recipe of food-safe, kitchen-made, pliable dough developed at the University of St. Thomas, kids of all ages can easily use their hands to mold their very own simple circuits right before their eyes! Lets go!

For this build, we’ll be mixing up two different types of dough, and then experimenting. For both types of dough, we’ll need:

• Deionized or distilled water (Tap water is OK if you don’t have any)
• Flour
• Salt
• Sugar
• Vegetable oil
• Cream of tartar (or lemon juice to substitute if you can’t find the stuff)
• Food coloring
• And last but not least, some measuring cups and a medium sized pot to mix it all up in

For basic experimentation, you’ll need:

• 6 volt battery pack (or 9 volt battery)
• LEDs
• Toy motor
• Buzzer
• Or head over to the Maker Shed and get the Squishy Circuits kit, perfect for classrooms, it’s got everything you need to start experimenting with your conductive dough.

Subscribe to Sylvia’s Mini Maker Show Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube and Vimeo.

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