My brushbots workshop at TEDxKids in Brussels

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Last week I went to Belgium to give a presentation at TEDxKids and to conduct a "brushbots" making workshop with over fifty 10-year-olds at an English-speaking school in Waterloo (near Brussels).

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I wasn't the only one who gave a workshop. The kids were busy all day, learning how to solder from London-based Technology Will Save Us, learning how to customize webpages from the Mozilla Foundation's Hackasaurus project, learning how to program an Arduino microcontroller from Modk.it, figuring how to make a chair out of nails and slats of wood from Gever Tulley, learning how to make music from Mysto & Pizzi, and learning about 3-D printers from i.materialise.

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A brush bot is simply a toothbrush head that has been removed from the toothbrush handle and has a button battery and mobile phone vibrator attached to it. They are easy to make, and you can buy a brushbot kit with enough materials to build four brushbots from the Maker Shed.

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Because the brushbots require no soldering and are pretty simple, it didn't take long for the kids to complete them.


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I was pleased to see that after the kids built two brushbots each, they started experimenting with the construction of the brushbots, adding the leftover materials as stabilizers, or taping two or more brushbots together.

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The kids had a fantastic time, and at the end of a long and very busy day, they seem to be excited and energized from their experience. I wish every school was like this all the time. Congratulations to Walter De Brouwer, the CEO of One Laptop Per Child Europe, for organizing this successful event!

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P.S.: When I was leaving Belgium I noticed this Coke machine at the airport with a funny picture of one of Belgium's most famous attractions, the Urinating Youngster Statue. "Taste the Coke side of Belgium," indeed!