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Art Meets Robotics
Video Tutorial
My DIY Spin Art Robot is a fantastic way to help kids make awesome art and teach them about circuits, motors, and switches! Kids can easily build this robot by using my template and following the step-by-step instructions.
This STEAM activity is perfect for classrooms, makerspaces, and libraries. There are no tools required! All you need is a solar motor, two button cells, and some conductive tape!
Watch the videos below to learn more.
In Short:
Recommended age: 8 years and older
Skill level electronics: easy
Skill level paper crafting: easy
Time needed: one hour
Estimated costs per robot: about 5 Euro or Dollar
Templates and Shopping List
Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to download my workshop kit.
Included in every Download:
All the templates you need for this project
My electronics shopping guide for this project
Detailed instructions on my Stress-Free Workshop page
My Easy Circuit template for experimentation
And much more!
Click here to download:
Color Mixing
Variation 1
POURING COLORS ON THE SPIN ART ROBOT
It's time to get creative with the Spin Art Robot! If you use liquid colors, kids can turn their robot into an action painting robot! All you need to do is tape two sheets of paper together to create a cylinder. Then, simply put it around the robot to catch airborne paint. Now, kids can start pouring! There are many ways kids can experiment with this:
Making the colors more liquid or more paste-like
Giving colors some time to dry in between or mixing them while wet
Pouring fast or slow
Pouring into the middle or at the edge of the disk
HERE ARE TWO MORE TIPS:
When the disk gets wet, it might bend down, causing it to get stuck when kids want to restart it. You have to flatten it again to start spinning it (the motors are really weak!)
Either cut a hole into the surrounding paper cylinder to access the switch or lock the switch into position using a paper clip.
Water-Based Markers
Variation 2
uSE pLAIN WATER TO BLEND COLORS
My Spin Art Robot is an amazing way to introduce kids to different art techniques! My favorite technique is water-based markers: After painting the disk, kids can use plain water to blend colors and give their artwork a painterly look. They can simply splash water on the disk or use a wet brush to paint on their artwork.
It's easy, no mess, and the results are incredible!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
If you want to use my work commercially, write me an e-mail.
If you use or share my work, please attribute VoltPaperScissors.com as the creator of this work and provide a clickable link where possible.
Find more information about me, my project, and the license I use here.