March Meeting: LittleBits Moving Creations

We had a great March meeting, with good discussion about the graphic novel Cardboard by Doug TenNapel and lots of creative experimenting with LittleBits. Not everyone loved the book, and several Bookshoppers actually mentioned that they thought they would like it more. A few found it too creepy - cardboard monsters taking over the world feels a little too close to a zombie apocalypse... We talked about how the way TenNapel drew the characters immediately shaped our impressions of them; none of us would have wanted to be friends with Marcus, while Cam seemed awesome.

After talking a little bit about what we might make out of magic cardboard if we ever got some, we got to work on our activity for the evening. Since Cam and his dad made a person out of cardboard, I challenged the group to work alone or in small groups to create something that moved using  LittleBits circuits, cardboard, tape, paper plates, string, and more! Although most Bookshoppers had used LittleBits before, we watched a brief orientation video, and it just so happens that LittleBits had a current challenge up on their website that fit perfectly with our activity and provided more helpful inspiration.

The Bookshoppers got right to work experimenting with different moving pieces and testing out methods of attaching cardboard to make various creations. Trial and error was the name of the game, and it was awesome to see the Bookshoppers share techniques and help each other troubleshoot issues. Below are several pictures and videos documenting the creative process.

Although we ran out of time to formally submit our moving creations online for the LittleBits challenge, check out the impressive final products in the following pictures and videos!

Our next meeting will be on Monday, April 30th. We will be discussing It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas. See you next month!