STEAM : How to make moving noodle robots
School starts back up for me at the very end of August but today, my youngest grandson, age 21/2, and I decided to spend a little time over in the classroom. I have piles of odds and ends stashed around the classroom that I have collected to use for when school starts back up. One of my collections includes the materials needed to make noodle robots that really do move…
To make a moving noodle robot you will need to collect a few items but first, I want to mention that I am planning to make a set to keep in the classroom so our children can explore the materials in different ways through out the school year.
Materials needed
To make one noodle robot, I used….
- 1 swimming noodle (cut down to size)
- 1 AA battery
- 1 battery operated toothbrush purchased at the Dollar Tree
- Duct Tape
- Stickers or markers to decorate your robot however you (or your students) wish.
What to do
The ONLY kind of battery operated toothbrush that I found that works for this is to buy the cheap kid’s $1.00 battery operated toothbrush from the Dollar Tree.
I opened the toothbrush and removed the entire battery case out of the toothbrush. I saved the toothbrush for a different use in the classroom later on.
I placed one battery inside the battery case and made sure it is working properly by switching the power on. Be sure to keep the battery in place by covering the entire battery (case and all) with duct tape…
I wrapped the case with about two layers of tape so it would fit snuggly (not tight) into the noodle robot…
Go ahead and decorate the noodle with stickers or markers. One long noodle should be cut down into smaller sizes using a sharp knife. You will want the noodles to be just shorter than the length of the battery case. I made mine look like a robot by using some stickers my grandsons had gotten in their kids-meals at Chic-fil-a. After the noodle is decorated or designed to look the way you (or your students) wish, then just place the battery pack inside the center of the noodle and turn it on…
And now the fun really begins. At least this is where it did for my grandson and I. My grandson spent the longest time exploring the moving noodle robot. He began by just learning how to turn the power on and off. Click-click, click-click, buzz-buzz! He did this over and over again and set it on the table on occasion to watch the noodle robot move across the table. As he adjust the battery around, the noodle robot would spin or move differently…
Then my grandson also wanted to take a closer look at the battery pack. He asked if he could take it out and I said “Of Course!” That’s another reason I covered the pack with layers of duct tape…
My grandson spent the longest time deconstructing and constructing the noodle robot, turning the power on and off, and then letting the robot roam across different surfaces around the room just to see what would happen. He LOVED it and so did I! It was so cool watching my grandson be able to explore the mechanics or workings of the robot all by himself…
I put together this short video of the noodle robot in action!
