Light-up Olympic Torch

Although this project is a few days late for the Olympics, creating your own torch is a great way to keep some of that Olympic spirit alive, bringing a piece of the Olympics into your own home. It's pretty quick (it took me ~20 minutes to connect & decorate everything), and makes a good project for teaching younger children about circuits, as it doesn't require many connections (of course, people of all ages can enjoy it-- the Olympics aren't only for kids, after all!).

Plus it also substitutes as a pretty good night light :)

• 1x toilet paper roll
• tissue & wrapping paper rolls also work, just cut them into smaller (~4-5 inch) pieces
• 1x yellow LED (prewired with resistors-- else, you can substitute a normal LED and connect the resistor yourself)
• 1x 3v Battery holder
• 2x 1.5v batteries
• optionally, you can use a higher voltage battery (up to 12 volts), which will make the LED glow brighter.
• Insulation tape (regular tape will also do)

For decoration:

• tissue paper (red, orange, yellow)
• cardstock/foam (any color)
• glue

Place the LED in the tube, making sure part of it sticks up above the top. Then, tape the wires to opposing sides of the tube.

With your alligator clips, connect the positive end negative end of the battery pack (with the batteries) to your LED, accordingly. Tape the alligator clips inside the tube as well, and then slide your battery pack in. It should fit snugly, but for extra support you can tape the bottom as well.

Cut a long piece of tape (that can fit around the tube), and add small bunches of tissue paper to it, with red coming first, then orange and yellow.

Wrap your 'flames' around the top of the tube, where the LED is. Now, when you turn it on it should look like the flame is glowing.

Wrap a colored paper of your choice around the tube, and tape it at the end.

Optionally, you can add some olympic-themed decorations

Have fun!!