My first set of fifth graders finished up their LED necklaces today.  We modified a project from Fashion Geek.  The original necklace called for smaller, dimmer LEDs controlled by a photoresistor to give them an always-glowing look based on ambient light, but the girls wanted to use bright and colorful lights.

CX loves soldering.  She left the video game design class because it wasn’t exciting for her.  I asked why soldering was so captivating: “I just like trying to keep my hands steady.”  She’s probably the most consistent of all the kids I’ve worked with.  Last year in PAZ she always worked hard to finish her projects when most kids goofed around.

I’m not as fortunate with one of the other kids.  She does not like soldering at all.  I eventually coax her into it, but her hands shake all over the place.  She’s not too good with sewing either.  I might hold a week long sewing class so kids get a grasp of the basics.

Overall I’d say the project was a success.  The kids came out with working necklaces.  It took three days longer than expected, but I just doubled up and had third graders work on designing computer animations and games.