This assignment is all about taking something you already have and changing it.Taking apart toys, seeing how they function, and reassembling them into something new.
For this inquiry I went and bought an old tickle-me Elmo from Goodwill. The most important part of this is being able to take the toy apart and for it to still have functioning mechanical components. Luckily my Elmo only needed new batteries and still worked, but it's good to check in store if you can! Carrying this guy on the bus to class got me some weird looks, but I ended up really bonding with him. I couldn't wait to make him into something new! This was the inquiry I was most excited about because it seemed so crazy; taking apart a toy and messing with it! I didn't have a plan to start with, I just wanted to take off the skin, see what was underneath, and go from there.
Elmo Before
Video of Elmo Before
To start this project I first though about what I my find inside. I expected to find two activation buttons (on the foot and belly), a speaker for the noise, and motor for the arm. Doing this is important, because it helps you think about expectations vs reality and how much more complex even everyday mechanics are. Next, you have to take off the outer plush covering- or as I called it, the "skin". It was surprisingly hard to get the skin off of Elmo, it was surprisingly thick and I ended up having to rip at his seams with a box cutter. I attempted to keep him mostly intact so I could use the fur for a later project (and I mostly succeeded). Once I saw what was underneath I was surprised! Elmo was much more complex than I expected, with a bunch of colorful wires connecting to his circuit board, an extra activation button, and an additional motor for his legs.
Elmo's Wires
Fully Skinned Elmo
If you decide to do this project with your own class and they're not in high school, you'll have to take a lot of safety precautions. For example, having their parents check for corroded batteries, which is a big problem with older toys. You, as the teacher, will also need to cut open the skin of the toy or at least start it for them, then let them have at it with scissors. Other than that this is a pretty low risk project, but as with every lesson it's good to be prepared with a first aid kit in your room.
While doing this project I took plenty of breaks, as your students also should. Breaks are important for the learning process, especially if you're using sharp objects like scissors. Let them go to the bathroom, eat a snack, maybe watch a short video. Allowing their brains to reset rejuvenates them and helps them focus on the work once the break is over. If we, as adults, can't focus on one project for too long without getting bored, then children definitely can't!
After I got the skin off of Elmo I pondered my first move. Should I make him say something else? Completely change his function? Or maybe focus in on the most obnoxious aspect and make him as insufferable as possible? So, being myself, I obviously chose the last one! When I do art I like to make things eye-bleedingly saturated, and this is a great opportunity to create an assault on a different sense: sound. I knew from the moment I turned him on that I wanted to do something with his arm. It moved so fast and erratically I knew it would be fun to play with. To make him louder I thought to attach something noisy to the rotating arm joint, so I began by gluing some Popsicle sticks to it to give myself more room to work with. I used hot glue for this, but if you have younger students tape or just regular glue should work fine if you give it enough time to dry. The next step on making Elmo super annoying was to find something that made sound. I immediately thought of bells, a common craft item, but I wanted something bigger than the ones we had available. Luckily, one of my classmates had a Christmas dog that had had big bells in the ears he wasn't going to use. They worked perfectly for what I wanted to do, and had the bonus of being a nice red that would match Elmo. I used long pieces of yarn to hang them from the arm at various lengths, including a really long one so it would smack against the table occasionally for an added sound factor.
After the bells the arm seemed way too blank. Looking around the room I saw another of my classmates decorating her project with bright, colorful strips of construction paper. Thinking those could add more color and some noise, I asked to have some. Again, I was lucky and my classmate said yes. I used hot glue the strips to the new arm, folded in half. Then to give it more visual interest and shape I folded them accordion style and at an angle from the bottom so the would puff out wildly.
Now my toy made more noise and was a bit hard to look at, but I knew it could be even crazier. So, I went looking for the googly eyes. I grabbed an assortment and slapped a few on Elmo, 3 on his "head" and 2 for some weird eye nipples right above the stomach button. My teacher had a guideline about not using the eyes AS eyes, but by having them be both nipple and eye it worked out. This is something you could think of implementing to encourage creative use of materials in your lesson. After the eyes were all on i went in with some sharpies, again something you could just use a kid friendly alternative for. I turned the activation buttons on the foot and stomach into gaping mouths with teeth, I thought it would be funny to start it by sticking your finger in the toys "mouth". Then I drew little faces on Elmos toes. Why? It was fun and this guy screamed multiple faces.
Finally, my toy was complete. And completely annoying. The jingling bells smashing into the table combined with Elmo's high pitched voice and scream laugh was perfect. While Elmo before take apart had made my class laugh, this one did even more. It was obnoxious and colorful and I was very proud.
Final Elmo Video
This experience was amazing. It was so fun to engage in destructive urges and then build it into something wild. The varied results of the class were so cool, from lie detectors to screaming helicopter cats. This project is something I intend to do with my future students regardless of age level. It spawns so much creativity and is just a blast to do. I'm even planning on doing more toy take aparts on my own time just for fun! I encourage other teachers to consider taking this lesson into their own classroom for a fun, informative lesson.