Snap Circuits Light Maze
Source: Stemoto Original
Dust off your Snap Circuits kit and build a glowing puzzle! Kids use modular snap wires to build a branching 'maze' circuit on their grid board, learning how switches can divert electricity down different paths to light up different LEDs.
Categorisation
Props & Materials Required
- •A standard Snap Circuits kit (e.g., Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100)
- •Plastic base grid
- •Battery holder (with batteries)
- •Various snap wires (1-snap, 2-snap, 3-snap)
- •Slide switch (S1) and Press switch (S2)
- •Red LED (D1) and Green LED (D2)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Set the Base
Place your clear plastic grid on the table. Snap your battery holder into the bottom left corner. This is the starting point of your maze.
Build the Fork
Snap a 3-snap wire leading away from the positive (+) side of the battery. From this wire, you are going to create a fork in the road—two different paths for the electricity to travel.
Place the Switches
On the left path, snap the Slide Switch (S1). On the right path, snap the Press Switch (S2).
Add the Lights
Connect the Red LED (D1) after the Slide Switch, and the Green LED (D2) after the Press Switch. Make sure the '+' sign on the LEDs faces towards the battery!
Solve the Maze
Use more snap wires to connect the negative sides of both LEDs all the way back to the negative (-) side of the battery. Now, flip the switches! Can you turn on just the red light? Just the green? Both at once? You've solved the circuit maze!
Why It Works & Notes
This project teaches 'logic gates' and 'parallel circuits' in a visual way. By giving kids a puzzle (make the red light turn on without turning on the green light), they have to figure out how to branch the electrical path using snap wires and switches.
Very safe project. Ensure your child aligns the '+' and '-' symbols on the LED modules correctly with the battery flow, or the lights won't turn on (LEDs only let electricity flow in one direction)!