Makey Makey

Students learn how the Makey Makey invention kit turns everyday conductive objects into inputs for a computer. Younger students set up the kit, play with plug-and-play apps, and invent their own game controllers. Older students use the Makey Makey as input for programs they code themselves, creating projects such as a coordinate-plane navigator, a joystick, an interactive poster, a poem generator, and a life cycle project that links physical drawings to digital animations.

The Makey Makey course is designed for grades K-6 and is split into two modules. The K-2 module focuses on exploring the kit, using plug-and-play apps, and prototyping game controllers without coding. The 3-6 module adds block coding, with students programming how their Makey Makey inventions respond.

You will need Makey Makey invention kits and computers to connect them to, along with everyday conductive materials such as fruit, foil, or pencil drawings and craft supplies for building controllers and posters. Many lessons link to step-by-step guides from Makey Makey, and the CodeHS-created lessons include slides and printable code instructions in English and Spanish.

The course includes 11 lessons across two modules: 4 lessons in the K-2 module and 7 lessons in the 3-6 module. Teachers can choose the module that fits their students, and the 3-6 lessons build from a basic introduction to more complex inventions.

The Makey Makey course is aligned to many state computer science standards, and its lessons also connect to Common Core Math.