LEDs – KidsLab

TechnoChic with Natasha Dzurny

In this episode, I am talking to Natasha Dzurny from TechnoChic. TechnoChic Tech-Craft Kits provide resources, inspiration and supplies for crafters to explore technology and techies to explore craft.

Natasha is the founder of TechnoChic and she is using her passion for arts and crafts and DIY tech to transform the way the world understands and creates with technology.

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a Master of Professional Studies in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University, and has spent her professional career in education and design positions, including teaching Final Cut Pro in the SoHo Apple Store, and designing projects for companies like Brown Dog Gadgets and LittleBits.

Natasha is an experienced workshop facilitator and teacher, and loves to share her passion with students, crafters, and companies. She’s always looking to collaborate and share tech-craft projects with other makers!

Images: (c) Natasha Dzurny – used with permission

TechnoChic.net is a great place to go for inspiration for DIY, tech-inspired and crafty projects. The project kits that Natasha sells online are very expressive and I am sure that many kids will proudly use them in their everyday lives once they make them. For example, there is the “Be a Unicorn” DIY kit which includes all materials to create a flashy, LED-lit unicorn headband. Or the “Watch me Sparkle” Kit which turns a reusable shopping back into a flashy art project.

Natasha is on a mission to shatter conventions around traditional thinking: tech is for boys and creativity is for girls. Hence, “technochic” – short for “Technology should be chic”. A nod to the fact that most tech is designed by men and therefore masculine, but it should be more chic!

Shownotes

Bright Wearables with Debra Ansell

In this episode, I am talking to Debra Ansell – she’s the creator of the blog Geek Mom Projects and the founder of Bright Wearables – they sell hackable and customizable accessories for kids.

Debra is a technophile mom of three boys and always looking for new projects to tackle. I love what she wrote in the about me section of her blog: \“I decided to start blogging because, as Adam Savage of Mythbusters says: “…the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.” \“

Images: (c) Debra Ansell – used with permission

So her blog, geekmomprojects.com, is filled with creative projects ideas for those who want to make stuff together with their kids. Most projects include some kind of LED lighting, laser-cutting or the popular BBC micro:bit. The projects Debra shows you to make also look really terrific, check the shownotes at kidslab.dev for the links to the Teeny Tiny Edge-Lit Trophy or the Edge-Lit Pendant for example. Some of the projects will require you to get access to a laser cutter, so now you have finally a really good reason to sign up for the makerspace close to you!

Debra turned her passion into a business and is also the founder of brightwearables.com. There, she is selling bags and backpacks that contain colorful circles of light that you control with code. Kids can code these bags themselves and use their new knowledge of coding to design and display personalized patterns that reflect their mood. I love the fact that their creations are meant to used in everyday life – as a backpack or as a stylish accessoire you carry around and show others.

Coding-wise, their kits are powered by the micro:bit and a specially designed, so-called “Bright Board” is the accessory you need to get started with the micro:bit. The Bright board gives the micro:bit access to the RGB leds and also provides power to the micro:bit and the accessory board.

Shownotes

Ellie Saves the Day with Brandon Satrom

In this episode, we’re talking to Brandon Satrom about his book Ellie Saves the Day – it’s a story about electricity and circuits for the next generation of maker girls and boys!

Brandon is a veteran of the technology world and has spent his twenty-year career working as a programmer, architect, product manager and executive for a number of companies, across a variety of industries.

A tinkerer at heart, Brandon’s love for electronics extends back to the Nintendo Entertainment System he would take apart and reassemble when simply blowing on the cartridges didn’t work. Brandon is also a lover of story and has written and published several books and short stories. He lives in Austin, TX with his editor-in-chief and wife Sarah and three boys.

So when it comes to children’s books – Brandon has published two so far and both were initially successfully funded on Kickstarter. First, there was “Ed Gets His Power Back” back in 2017 and then a year later, the children’s book “Ellie Saves the Day” was launched. Both books share a common theme, which is to discover electronics through the power of story.

Images: (c) Brandon Satrom – used with permission

His first book, Ed Gets His Power Back, is the story of a green LED named Ed who learns to light himself up and complete a circuit with the help of his friends.

In the second kids book, Ellie Saves the Day, Ellie who is a blue LED learns to make her light blink and complete a circuit with the help of her friends.

Both books are beautifully illustrated and fun to read with your kids. But what is even better is that both books can be purchased with a STEAM kit, a component pack which includes either an electronic breadboard or a custom printed circuit board plus components. While reading the book or afterwards, you can then complete a basic but REAL electronic circuit and thereby continue to learn about the electronic components discussed in the real physical world.