Let's make "electronic paint brushes" that we can use with Glowdoodle! Your electronic paint brush might have a single LED or a couple of LEDs. Test your connections before you glue and make sure the battery is strong enough to light multiple LEDs.
Here is how I made my electronic paint brush. I started by cutting out a rectangle of cardboard and I used a ruler to carefully bend the cardboard into a box shape. I used hot glue to glue it all together and while the glue dried I held it together with binder clips and rubber bands.
Meanwhile I folded a long thin strip of cardboard in half.
I marked which side the positive lead of the LED would go on to help keep it clear as I built my paint brush. I poked a couple holes in the cardboard and poked my LED leads through the holes.
I stripped the ends of the wire to connect to my LED.
When the LED was in place I used the hot glue gun to secure it to the cardboard.
Likewise, I secured the wires to the LED with some hot glue.
I glued the wire to the back of the cardboard.
I glued the wired piece of cardboard to the handle I built.
I built a prototype switch to see if the plan worked. It did, so I had a plan for my paint brush switch. Your paint brush does not need to have a switch if you do not want one.
The end of the negative wire was stripped and secured to the handle using conductive copper tape.
I used the same construction for the switch as with my prototype, but I did not use copper tape on the positive wire. Instead, I built a springy coil that would contact the battery with little force on the switch.
When the switch is closed the LED lights up!
What will your electronic paint brush look like?
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