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Learn coding and circuitry basics as you incorporate soundÌýeffects into a story book. Design a soundscape for your story,Ìýrecord your sounds, and use copper tape, Makey Makey andÌýScratch to help your story come alive with sound.

Supplies: Old picture books/photocopies of picture bookÌýpages/hand-drawn pictures for stories, Makey Makeys (1 perÌýteam), copper tape, computers with online access to Scratch,Ìýcardstock, conductive materials (foil, wire, play doh, etc.)

Select a Story:

Select a picture book to enhance with sound - or draw your own. In this example, we use Where the WildÌýThings Are by Maurice Sendak, but feel free to selectÌýany story that can be enhanced with sound! ReadÌýthrough the book and decide which parts of the storyÌýwould be best enhanced with sound. Do you want toÌýadd sound effects? background music? characters'Ìývoices? or a voiceover of the printed text?

Explore Makey Makey:

• Plug Makey Makey into your computer and navigate toÌýthis project page in Scratch. Makey Makey will enableÌýus to play the Scratch piano on our computer usingÌýany type of conductive material.Ìý
• Connect one end of an alligator clip to 'Earth' (at theÌýbottom of the board) and hold the metal clip at theÌýother end between your fingers. You're now grounded.
• Connect one end of another alligator clip to an arrowÌýkey on the board and attach the opposite end toÌýsomething conductive (foil, graphite pencil, banana,Ìýcopper tape, etc.).
• Test your Makey Makey piano. When you're groundedÌý(i.e., holding the 'Earth' alligator clip between yourÌýfingers), you should be able to play a note on theÌýScratch piano by pressing on the conductive material.
• Add more buttons to control the other keys on yourÌýkeyboard (e.g., arrow keys, space bar, click) and play aÌýsong using your creative keyboard!

Make a Switch:

• Test out some different switches to control your MakeyÌýMakey. A switch allows you to complete a circuit byÌýpressing together two conductive ends.
• For practice building a switch to control Makey Makey,Ìý.
• What other types of switches will allow you to controlÌýyour Makey Makey? What type of switch or buttonÌýwould work well in your picture book?

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Introduction to Scratch:

• A few simple commands in Scratch (scratch.mit.edu)Ìýcan allow you to play a range of sounds in yourÌýselected story.
• First, of what youÌýcan do in the Scratch programming environment.ÌýThen, create your own Scratch account.

Selecting Sounds for a Story:

• Use Scratch to program different sounds to play whenÌýthey're triggered by a Makey Makey.
• To connect to a Makey Makey, program sounds to playÌýwith the following keys:
  • Arrows (up, down, right, left)
  • Space bar
  • Mouse click
• Sounds can include pre-existing sounds in the ScratchÌýSound Library, sounds recorded directly into Scratch orÌýsounds uploaded from your computer.
• To access sounds, click the Sounds bar (next to ScriptsÌýand Costumes). To access the library, click the speakerÌýicon. To record directly into Scratch, click theÌýmicrophone icon. To upload a sound file to theÌýprogram, click the folder icon.

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Programming in Scratch:

To add sounds to your book using Makey Makey:

• Write your Scratch program in the Scripts window.ÌýFind appropriate 'events' by clicking on the brownÌýEvents tab. Possible events include: When up arrow isÌýpressed, when space is pressed, etc.
• To add Sounds to your program, click on the purpleÌýSounds tab. Use the pull-down menu to programÌýsounds previously recorded or selected from theÌýSound Library.

Add Sound to your Story:

Now, put it all together to add sound to your story.ÌýRecord or select sounds to add to your story, useÌýScratch to connect certain keyboard inputs to theÌýdifferent sounds, and design switches that allow you toÌýturn the sounds on or off.

Additional Resources:

• from MIT.edu
• Sound Design with Makey Makey Instructions (pdf)

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