Make a light-up Christmas card! Try this holiday STEM project with your little science lover

If you have a kid who loves math, science, engineering, or just cool technology, get them started early. Hands-on learning is the key!

College of Science, Engineering, and Technology Outreach Director at Utah Tech University, Jessica Davis, and Community Events Coordinator, Madison Clark, share how their university is preparing the workforce of tomorrow by helping students learn by doing.

For more information, visit utahtech.edu.

LED Christmas Card

Time: 30 min – 1 hour
Age range: 7 years and up.
Precautions: This activity requires the use of a coin cell battery. These batteries are extremely dangerous if ingested or if lodged in other parts of the body. Take extreme care to ensure that children do not place these batteries in their mouths or other parts of their bodies.

SUPPLIES

Activity at Buzzing Bubs

• LED light
• Copper tape
• 3V coin cell battery
• Circuit card template
• Crayons/Markers
• Clear tape
• Construction paper
• Scissors

Optional 

• Other supplies for decorating, i.e., glue, glitter, stickers, tape, pom poms, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Print out the circuit card template.
2. Cut the template in half.
3. Fold your construction paper in half to make a card.
4. Glue the template to the inside of the construction paper card. Line up the circles for the LED lights.
5. Cut a hole in the front of the card for your LED light to stick through.
6. Take the copper tape and remove the paper to reveal the sticky side. Take the sticky side of the tape and stick it to the lines of the circuit on the template. It is important that the positive line and the negative line are separate and do not cross. Also, the circuit will work better if you don’t tear the tape. Try and make the positive line one continual piece and then make the negative line one continual piece.
7. Look at the battery and identify the positive side (+). Stick some copper tape on the positive side and then stick the battery onto the template in the designated location. (The positive side should be on the bottom or stuck to the paper with the sticky tape on the battery in contact with your positive line of copper tape.)
8. Take your LED bulb and identify the longer arm. This is your positive arm. Place the light onto the LED circle on the template with the longer positive arm coming in contact with the positive line of copper tape and the negative shorter arm coming in contact with the negative line of copper tape.  Use your clear tape to secure these arms in place.
9. Fold the corner of the template on the dotted line so that negative line of copper tape touches the top (or negative side) of the battery.
10. Watch your LED bulb light up!
11. Decorate your card and send it to someone you love!

Helpful Resources and Extensions

Picture steps to make the card

What is happening?

Video explaining simple circuits

How to make a circuit with multiple bulbs: Series Circuits vs Parallel Circuits