Makey Makey & Scratch Code/Art Storytelling

In this project, we are taking inspiration from literature to draw scenes or characters from a book and bring them to life through code. Hand-drawn art is connected to a Makey-Makey through conductive copper tape. Then, we use the Makey-Makey Scratch Extension to integrate our real world creation with the digital world of code. In this example, we will bring themes and characters from Dragons Love Tacos to life.

• A book for inspiration, or a creative idea! I choose Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin for this example.
• Access to Scratch - creating an account is preferable so that work can be saved.
• Makey-Makey & USB Cord
• Computer
• 4-7 Alligator Clips (these are usually included in a Makey-Makey purchase
• Copper Tape
• Scissors
• Paper - I prefer card stock
• Art supplies such as markers, crayons, or colored pencils

• First, come up with the idea behind your creation.
• A book can be a great central idea, but students are often inspired to make maps, characters, or creative scenes for this project. Either way, choose an idea.
• Draw and color the scene you plan to code.
• Sometimes, looking at the sprites and backgrounds available in Scratch before committing is helpful.
• Sometimes it is fun to replicating your own art digitally in Scratch.

• Cut short strips of copper tape. This will act as a conductor for the alligator clips.
• Tape them intentionally to the art elements you want to be interactive within your code.
• If doing this with students, this is a great opportunity for a mini lesson on conductive materials. Let them test if the paper alone is conductive. Why is the copper tape needed? How does it help the current flow?

• First, connect the Makey Makey to your computer.
• Then, wire alligator clips to each strip of copper tape on your canvas.
• Remember to leave one alligator clip connected to Earth (ground). You will hold this one in your hand as you use the Makey Makey to close the circuits.

• Open Scratch
• Log in or create an account so that your work can be saved
• Click Create to get to the Scratch Sandbox

In the bottom left hand corner of the Scratch sandbox is a + box that allows users to add extensions.

Click it and add the Makey Makey Extension.

• Use the Makey Makey Extension to code your scene.
• This isn't a tutorial on using Scratch; there are lots of great tutorials embedded in Scratch to learn how to code within in it. So, here I've just shown you a simple code for a general idea about how a drawing, an electrical interface, and coding software can be incorporated to make something new.

Show off and share your magic!