Lesson Plan for Squishy Circuits pioneered by AnnMarie Thomas for 3-4 year children. The slides are a guide and the presentation may vary. Hope it helps!

1. Squishy Circuits
Bridge Play School

2. What is a Electricity?
• Our toys have lights, sounds, and
some even move

3. What makes toys work?
• They have batteries, which give the
toys power
• What happens when batteries have
no more power?

4. How does power move?
• Anyone know who the power gets to
lights and makes sounds?
– Wires! Which are a part of a circuit
– A circuit like a road electricity moves on
Danger! Never touch wires

5. Lights in our house use
power too!
• How do we turn on and off lights?
– A Switch!

6. Open Circuit
• When the power can be stopped, like
using a switch
– When the switch off the light goes out
• Like a red light or stop sign on the street
– When the switch on the light goes on

7. Closed Circuit
• When the power always moves
– There is no switch
– The light is always on

8. Making a Circuit
• What do we need?
– Power Source
• We will use batteries
like our toys
– Light Bulb
• We will use a little lamp
– Connection
• We will use Play Doh!

9. Batteries
• They have two sides
– Top and Bottom (positive and negative)
– Connect each one to a side of the light
• We will use purple playdoh!
• It conducts the electricity like a wire

10. Shorting out
• What happens if the two playdoh
wires touch?
– The light goes off
• The circuit is shorted out

11. Separating the
connections
• To keep the two purple playdoh
connections/roads from touching, we
will use the white playdoh
– It does not let the power move between
the purple ones
• It’s inductive or insulates between the
purple ones

12. Creating our own circuit
• Now you will use the playdoh,
batteries, and lights to make your
own circuit

13. Here’s what you could
make!

14. Let’s do it!
• First one of you will make a circuit
– Then the other will? Or disconnect it?
• Then make an animal or shape?
– Everyone make a shape or animal with
the white dough
– Ask Miss Melissa, Miss Jessie, or
Thomas’ Dad will help you add eyes, a
mouth, then lights for the eyes!

15. Helping Hands
• Ask for help to keep the power roads
separate
– Remember the purple playdoh move the
power from the battery to the light
– The white playdoh keeps the two purple
playdoh’s power separate

16. Backup Materials

17. Activities
• Closed Circuit
• Power Flow
• Open Circuit
• Short Circuit
• Induction
• Series Circuit
• Parallel Circuit

18. Closed Circuit
• Take two lumps of purple dough
• Plug one wire from battery into each
piece of purple dough
• Connect the two lumps with a light
• Does the light turn on?

19. Power Flow
• Flip the light around so each leg is in
the opposite piece of purple dough
– Does the light turn on?
• The power only moves in one
direction

20. Open Circuit
• Turn the light back around so power
goes the right way, the light turns on
• Pull one leg out of the dough
– Does the light turn on?
• The road for the power is not
connected
– Like a bridge being opened

21. Short Circuit
• Put the leg back in so the light is on
• Push the two pieces of dough
together
– Does the light stay on?
• The light went out, a short circuit
– The two roads cannot touch

22. Induction
• Separate the two pieces so the light
is on again
– Make a sandwich with the white dough
between the two pieces of purple dough
– Does the light turn on?
• The white dough is like a wall
– It keeps the two purple doughs separate
• It is insulating

23. Series Circuit
• Add another piece of purple dough
– Then add another light, like a train
– What happens if you disconnect a light?
• Everything in the circuit is connected
– Like cars on a train, if one gets loose
the others don’t go

24. Parallel Circuit
• Now create three circles
– Purple on the inside, like a dot
– While around the purple
– Then another circle of purple
• Plug one end of the battery into each
purple circle
– Plug a light into each circle of purple
– Pull out one of the lights
– Do they all turn off?

25. Materials
• Battery Pack (9V?)
• Heavy-duty (9V?) snap connectors
• 10mm LED assortment

26. Insulating Dough Recipie
• http://youtube.com/Wz8rGNt-iEQ
• 1-1/2 cups flour (1/2 cup?)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup distilled water
• 1 tsp. granulated alum (optional)

27. Conductive Dough Recipie
• 1 cup tap water
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 3 Tbsp. cream of tartar
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• Food coloring (optional)

28. Safety
• Never connect lights directly to the
batteries
– Too much power can make them
overheat and pop
• Safety glasses are recommended
• The conductive dough can get hot
– Let it cool after disconnecting
• Always experiment with an adult
– Never try this by yourself

29. Tips
• Power only works in one direction
– Called polarity
• Sometimes strands of insulating
dough still conduct and lights are
dimly lit
– Discuss resistance and capacitance
• Don’t cross the wires, it will short
out the battery