Halloween is a great opportunity for teachers to get their students involved in creative projects while also engaging with some fundamental coding and electronics techniques. Classroom-friendly devices such as BBC micro:bit, Raspberry Pi and Codebug offer the perfect combination of functions and capabilities to add a high-tech twist to some classic Halloween design projects. We collected some of our favourites...
Bat with flapping wings - BBC micro:bit
The 3D printing and electronics experts at Kitronik came up with this simple but effective project for creating a Halloween bat with flapping wings. The flapping effect is achieved by attaching a BBC micro:bit to a servo, which is in turn connected to the perspex bat wings by pieces of string. As the servo rotates back and forth, the wings are moved in such a way that the bat appears to be really flying, making for an excellent halloween decoration and a handy electronics and design project all in one.
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Pumpkin Pi - Raspberry Pi
Our very own community member fustini came up with this great design for a Halloween Jack'o'Lantern with a difference. Incorporating multicoloured LEDS and a small speaker controlled by a Raspberry Pi, students can create their own combinations of atmospheric light and sound effects, from classic horror movie theme tunes to bone-chilling screams...
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Ghost Critter - Codebug
A very simple design project ideal for younger children, Codebug offer downloadable templates to transform your device into a ghost or pumpkin. Some users have taken the idea further and incorporated additional felt and pipe cleaners to make the Codebug the centrepiece of a giant LED spider, ideal for hanging from the ceiling. Once your design is complete, you can also use the LED display to scroll a personalised halloween message or add a flashing light effect.
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Living Skull - Arduino
Any horror aficionado can tell you that no haunted house is complete without a living skull. The good folks at Adobe have come up with a fabulous project for creating an Arduino-controlled design incorporating a light sensor to terrify any unsuspecting passers by. Place it outside your house to send trick or treaters running screaming into the night.
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Iron Man Costume - Beaglebone
For a more ambitious design project, why not use your electronics skills to create a high-tech halloween costume? This Iron Man costume was designed by a father for his young son, using a Beagleboard with Angstrom Linux to incorporate a range of light and sound effects. The demo video of his impressive design has already been viewed almost 7 million times on Youtube.
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Do you have a great Halloween project in mind that incorporates one of these or other popular coding and electronics platforms? Let us know about it in the comments section below...