This week we have been making art with a machine called a Doodlebot. The children have loved making circles and squiggles with these drawing "robots". Today we were asked many times by the children how to make them and if they could be made at home. They sure can! Here is everything you need to know to make your own Doodlebots.
Here are some links to other types of doodlebots than the ones we have:
http://myhillsdalelibrary.org/2014/02/19/makerspace-wednesday-hack-a-toothbrush/
They can be made with cups:
This is what ours look like:
You will need:
-A dollar store electric toothbrush with the top part separated from the battery/motor part (unless you are making a simple doodle bot with just the toothbrush and markers, see above link)
-(Some instructions have small motors with battery packs. I'm not sure how much those cost or where to get them)
-An old CD
-AA battery
-Hot glue gun and glue
-Markers
-Googly eyes
Glue the markers onto the CD. It took a lot of glue for me to secure them. Make sure to glue them with the tips pointing away from the CD. Then, separate the colored part of the toothbrush base from the battery pack part. Hot glue the colored part onto the top of the CD, so it sits on top of the CD which sits on top of the markers. Then put the battery into the battery slot. After putting the battery in, I actually ended up putting the battery part in backwards (you can see in the photo that it is protruding from the colored part of the toothbrush). I did this for two reasons: The on/off button was much easier to push when it was exposed like that, and because it's easier to get access to the battery that way. The battery didn't fall out and it's completely safe to have it all exposed like that. After you have done all that, add googly eyes for effect and even yarn/string for hair. I think hair would be a great addition to our Doodlebots. How fun would that look as they wiggle around and draw on our papers? Get creative, good luck, and have fun! Total cost: about $2
Tips: If you have poster board or butcher paper, that would be ideal for these. They tend to travel! *Also, these did not want to work on tables that had tablecloths under the paper, even though they were thin. They worked best on our flat, hard countertops. Try these on a hard floor and be sure to have a sponge/wipe for cleaning up runaway Doodlebot trails!
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