Toy Autopsy: Furby, Glow Dome, Spy Gear!

As makers, we love getting inside of things to understand how they work and how they’re made. So we were inspired to give YOU an inside peek at three of the hottest toys of the 2012 holiday season! Check out the insides of these awesome electronics with helpful tags by our guest maker expert, Matthew Beckler of HackPittsburgh. And next time one of your toys hopelessly breaks like ours did, remember to peek inside and even reuse some of its parts in your next maker project.

(Psssst! Don’t miss Matt’s notes at the very end, exploring cool similarities inside these toys that look really different on the outside AND even a tip about how “night vision” works.)

Furby 2012

© 2012 Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

Part 2: Sock Stuffed Animals …. That Make Noise!

In this set of 2 posts, we guide you to the info you’ll need to make your own sock animal that actually talks, beeps or sings!  Click here to read Part 1. Now that you have your homemade sock stuffed animal, it’s time for the noisy part!

Make your sock dog honk with circuit bending!

Circuit bending is a popular hack in maker culture. Circuit benders remove the noise-making parts of existing things – like toys – and use them to make their own sounds. Some circuit benders are musicians who use the toy parts like instruments. Others are just interested in repurposing the noises into funny new toys.

Click below to learn how to circuit bend. Keep in mind that you can also simply reuse the sound-maker inside your animal without any changes, if you’d like. Circuit bending is a whole realm of making, so start simple and experiment with more advanced projects as you learn. It’s a good idea to have an adult helper with you for safety when circuit bending.

Part I: Sock Stuffed Animals …. That Make Noise!

Click here to learn to make a sock dog from Create Studio

Making your own sock stuffed animal is fun and creative. But as kid-makers, we know you like to do things that are SUPER fun and creative! In this set of 2 posts, we’ll guide you to the info you’ll need to make your own sockanimal that actually talks, beeps or sings.

• How to Make a Sock Monkey by wikiHow
• How to Make a Stuffed Sock Dog by Create Studio
• No-Sew Sock Animals by Danielle’s Place

Check out Part II of this project to learn about how to make your sock animal beep, honk or speak using the maker technique of circuit bending …