A STEM Project: A MIcrobit Project For Christmas Using the Silhouette

A Microbit Project For Christmas 

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman characters are placed over a red LED light. The supporting box for the Microbit was cut with the Silhouette paper cutter.

When the Micobit is activated by pressing the left button, a song is played. When the right button is pressed, a different song is played.  Can you guess which songs are going to be played?

Here is a video of the Microbit in action.

A Microbit is an easy and inexpensive way of learning to program.  I purchased my Mictobit at Microcenter for $22.  I think the Microbit is a bargain because of all of its programming capabilities that are packed into this little device. The Microbit has an LED display, it can emit sound, it has light and temperature sensors, radio and Bluetooth sensors to transmit between two Microbits and two programmable buttons to name a few features.

The Microbit website, https://microbit.org has tutorials to help you learn programming using Microsoft MakeCode for beginners. Python and Scratch programming languages are also available to program the Microbit for more advanced learners.

In my previous blog posting, I make a wrap  for the Microbit to contain the battery to allow for easy access to the connectors  https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2024/11/a-stem-project-microbit-battery-holder.html. I used this wrap for my Microbit.

Box and Reindeer/Snowman Instructions

Cut out the box to contain the Microbit and embellishments.

Here is the PDF.  I used 65 lb. white cardstock for the design. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13lfB-cwtJ78ThGAPthGAWRUfdQfTBiOU/view?usp=sharing

Here is the .Studio file for a Silhouette cutting machine.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkUVRGGrLiNJ4IwZoHJhHQxNVvhraS3D/view?usp=sharing

Here is the SVG for all other electronic cutting machines. I included a one inch square for reference.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FrY9usEMk4TTZqn5-ah25bEMCP60K5_p/view?usp=sharing

Crease the box as shown above.  Apply glue to the two tabs at the left side of the photo.

Adhere the tabs and apply glue to the two small tabs as shown above.

Insert and adhere the small tabs into the bottom of the box. Apply glue to the side of the Microbit holder tabs.

Adhere the Microbit holder tabs to the inside of the box.

Insert the Microbit by wrapping the box around the Microbit's buttons.

Embellish with a paper candy cane.

Embellish the Snowman and Reindeer as shown above.

LED Light Instructions

Using a red LED light, (please note, the longer wire is positive), I made a holder for this LED light by using the following instructions in this YouTube video.  https://youtu.be/jmsu__UYTl8?si=dS8hfbSRW0h7QUfb 

Assembly Instructions

Once the red LED holder was made, I used two alligator clips; a red alligator clip was used for connecting the positive side of the light to pin 0 at the bottom of the Microbit .

A black alligator clip was used for the connecting the ground side of the light to pin GND at the bottom of the Microbit. In the photo above, alligator clips are attached at the back side of the Microbit.

Programming Instructions

Here is the program that I used to operate my Microbit, https://makecode.microbit.org/S41653-41913-44926-20051 The program does a few things.  It streams the message "Merry Christmas" across the LED display. The red LED blinks on and off. When the left button is pressed, the song "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" plays. When the right button is pressed, the song "Frosty the Snowman" plays.

 

Side View

When playing the left button on the Microbit, use the reindeer embellishment for the "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" song. When playing the right button, use the snowman embellishment for the "Frosty the Snowman" song.