What is the Makey Makey Kit?
The Library now offers a Makey Makey Kit for patrons to checkout, take home, and create with! A Makey Makey is an invention kit that allows you to turn anything into a "key". Use this key to control your computer through unusual ways! Anything that is even a little bit conductive can be used to make a connection. Try creating an invention that combines conductive and non-conductive parts.
Conductive Materials
Here are a few things to try (please see rules & guidelines for rules regarding specific materials):
- Most fruits and vegetables
- Lots of other foods work too (marshmallows, gummy candies, macaroni and cheese, cupcakes, shrimp, etc.)
- Plants (leaves or flowers, but nothing too dry)
- Play-Doh, Model Magic and other clays as long as they stay moist
- People (connect one person to ground, and another to an input, and you can trigger sounds when they high-five)
- Graphite from a pencil (make thick, dark lines, and be sure to draw on a smooth surface)
- Foil and other metal objects (coins, magnets, nuts and bolts, forks and knives, pots and pans, etc.)
Rules & Guidelines for Makey Makey Kit Use
- At no point should any wires or the circuit board come into contact with water.
- Please handle the circuit board with care. It is fragile and if broken, renders the entire Makey Makey kit useless. Replacement cost for broken, unusable, or missing circuit board is $50. Other charges may incur for missing alligator cables, USB cable, etc.
- This Makey Makey kit comes with everything you need to create fun interactions except a computer. A computer is required in order to use this kit, so make sure you have one available.
- If using food, Play-Doh, or other messy materials that may leave residue on the alligator clips, do not insert the metal end of the alligator clips directly into the material. Insert a different conductive material (like a paper clip) into the messy material first, then attach the alligator clip to that other conductive material.
Click here to view the included how to, rules, inventory, etc. card that is included in the Library's Makey Makey kit.
Makey Makey Inspiration
Get some inspiration from these videos! More inspiration can be found here!
Websites to use with Makey Makey
Bongos
Play some bongo drums!
Simple Piano
Play the piano!
Tetris
Use the arrow keys or your own custom controller to play tetris!
Sound Effects
Allows for your keyboard to become a sound effects machine!
Flash Flash Revolution
When asked for username and password, select guest.
Flappy Bird
Guide the bird between pipes using only one key!
Dodge It!
Scratch game in which you try to get away from multiplying squares.
Wack a Mole
Try to hit each mole as it pops out of it's hole.
Drum Machine
Scratch based program that is very fun. Uses letter keys as well as arrows. I like to move it, move it!
Draw Program
Create a unique drawing using only the arrow keys!
Simple Drum Machine
Play drums using the arrow keys and spacebar.
Piano with full octave
Another piano for makey makey use.
MK-1 Piano
Yet another piano for makey makey use. Features different sounds and key maps.
Color Game
For a group to play. Connect when your color appears on screen.
Simon Says
Up arrow is blue, down arrow is green, left arrow is red, and right arrow is yellow.
Steal the Bananas
Steal the bananas as fast as you can. But watch out for hippos!
Geometry Dash
See if you can run the whole course without falling onto a spike! May need to enable flash.
Pacman
A classic game of pacman. May need to enable flash.
Super Mario Flash
Play Super Mario using makey makey!