Fabric Art with Lights Workshop! L.O. To create a piece of artwork using fabric and a circuit. Today we are going to be learning how to make circuits with LED’s. We will also be designing, creating and evaluating characters we make to go into our scenes.

What is a circuit and what do we need to make one? In you pairs draw a circuits on the paper provided. Together decide the following: What must you have? What could you have? And What might you have?

What is a circuit? A circuit is a path between points which an electrical current can be carried. They will always include a source of power (usually batteries). And a device that requires power such as a lightbulb, your TV or a Laptop! The word “circuit” sounds like “circle,” and a circuit needs to be circular to work. The wires have to go from the power source to the device and back again. Many circuits have a switch so that they can be turned on and off, the remote for your TV acts as a switch by turning it off!

Remember Circuits must be in a Circle to work! How do we draw a circuit? Using the cut out images create a circuit in your pairs! Remember Circuits must be in a Circle to work! Test out your circuit. Use the equipment on the table to see if your circuit would work! If it doesn’t check: Do you have a power supply? Are all your wires connected? Does your circuit run in a circle?

Try making these circuits

Which Team were you?

Designing My Character In your pairs you will need to design a character to go onto your scene. Remember it has to make sense with the background you made! Haunted House – You may make a creepy painting or and ghostly figure! Rainforest – You might make a cheeky monkey or a colourful parrot! Skyscraper – Some of you will need to make buildings and others may make boats on the river or people walking by. Under the Sea – You may make a ship wreck or a jellyfish! Label where your lights are to go when drawing your design! You might want some lights on in your Skyscraper or the eyes of your fish to light up!

Making My Character You will first need to draw your character onto a piece of card and cut this out – the card will make it strong enough to hold up your circuit! Then get decorating! Using the materials available decorate your character using your design to help you choose colours and extra features such as buttons and string to add detail. Once decorated make sure your area is clear of scraps and tidy so we can move on to making our characters light up!

Creating my circuit You will all need a battery and wires to create your circuit. You will need to look back at your design for how many lights you need in your circuit (If you are using more than 2 you will need another battery). Make sure your circuit works before you attach it! Finally make holes where you want the lights to shine through and attach you circuit to the back of your character!

Evaluation Draw the character you have made in the box and then consider the following questions: What do I like about my character? Why do I like these parts of my character? What could I have done better?