Motorized Coloring Machine Kids Can Make
You know what STEM is right? Science, technology, engineering and math. These are skills that kids really need to have a nice handle on- both boys and girls. We incorporate STEM into our homeschooling as much as possible.
Let me show you how we took the parts from an old broken toy and turned it into a motorized coloring machine. My kids call this coloring of the future!
Supplies You Will Need:
- toy motor with attached wiring
- 9 volt battery
- 4 color markers
- electric “alligator” clip
- hot glue sticks and hot glue gun
- electric drill and screw
- plastic cup
For the step by step instructions, you can read them here. Here is what the coloring bot looks like in motion.
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That motorized coloring machine is way cute. I’ll have to give this a try. I need to check out all of these activities the next time the grands are here.
We could totally do this! I am going to try it with my kiddo over the weekend! This is so neat!!
That’s the coolest thing ever! This is a great way to get kids interested in STEM. Love it!
That is so awesome. I love this. My boys would absolutely flip their lids for this.
This looks like a really fun project. STEM activities can be so educational and still so much fun. It’s a great way for kids to learn.
Wow! I am sure the kids would love this project. It seems so easy to do. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! This looks like a really cool project for kids!! Great post!!
These are great activities to spark a child’s interest in STEM. I love to watch children making things with their own hands and it is simply great to see their creative genius.
My son has always been fascinated with robots. Bet he’ll have fun creating that motorized coloring bot. It’s way too cute!
I am a huge advocate for anything STEM or STEAM related! Especially for our children – it is so important to raise forward thinking children!
This is way too cool. My granddaughters will have so much fun with this. We have to try this.
Oh wow this is great. MY kids would love that! I will show this to them later.
Very smart idea.
So important to show kids that they can have fun while still learning new things.
That is the coolest activity I’ve seen yet for kids! My son would be all over making this stem project
Wow this is pretty fantastic. I am pretty sure my kids would LOVE something like this. How cool, very creative and so fun.
Even though my son is a teen, he’s probably go for trying to build the motorized coloring machine. I think he’d like it. Thanks for the idea. 😀
Wow this is really neat! I wonder what my kids would do with it.
That is pretty darn cool! A+
This is one of the coolest DIY’s that I’ve seen on the internet:)
I’d love it if you shared this with everyone on my weekly link party:) http://www.twentysomethinginthe2010s.com/peace-love-link-up-001/
I love STEM projects, so does my son. This project reminds me of the Squiggly Wiggle writers from back in my childhood. Bet you kids have a blast with their creation.
This looks so fun! My boys will really enjoy making this.
Wow! Very clever! My daughter would love to color with this. Thanks for sharing on Toddler Fun Friday!
It was super fun to make!
We can’t get the cup to move. The motor works and everything seems intact. Any suggestions? We switched cups…not sure what else to try.
Let me ask my husband. He may have some suggestions.
Wendy- have you offset the weight on the shaft of the motor? In other words, it is like when your washer goes off balance because the clothes are not evenly distributed and it causes your washer to shake. Same idea, If you will email me a picture of how you’ve constructed the inside of the cup where the motor protrudes and the shaft is visible we can take a look. crystalandcomp at yahoo dot com
We have done it about 5 different ways with 3 different cups. We have switched markers, moved the motor and the battery. We finally got it to work on one cup but then the motor melted the whole of the cup. I dont
know how to send a picture here
Can this be used for a science fair project ?
Sure, why not!?
Your Instructions completely skip a whole part. We can see front with video that something is spinning and moving inside the cup. Yet there are no instructions with that step so of course our project did not work. Very disappointed. We later figured out it needed something to vibrate inside the cup so we attached a cork with wire and metal weight.
my daughter wants to do this for her science fair project but for some reason we cannot get it to work. i connected everything exactly like yours but nothing happens. any advice? she is so upset she wont be able to do it.
is your battery good?
It is a brand new battery. We tried it with a motor from a toy like yours but nothing happened. We tried a paper cup and plastic cup. Nothing. We tried a handheld fan and 2 different toothbrush motors. Nothing. We have tried so many different things. My daughter is so upset. We have to quickly find a different project bc her science fair project is due next week. So disappointed
If you can send us pictures we can help you. I will email you.
Clearly there is something moving around on the inside of he cup. Why leave that step out? Without that step, there is a lot of work put into something that will not work the same way the video shows.
All of it was at Michaels Craft Store but you can click the links on Amazon to see other options in the supply list.