It's easier to understand what Makey Makey is by watching this video of it in action than by describing it, but I'll give it a shot. Makey Makey is a printed circuit board that you connect to any computer with a USB cable (included). You don't need to install any software. Your computer thinks Makey Makey is a keyboard. And it is a keyboard of sorts. But it doesn't use standard keys. Instead, you connect wires from Makey Makey to anything that conducts electricity: a piece of fruit, a bowl of water, a cup of soup, a scrap of aluminum foil, blobs of Play-Doh. When you touch the object with your finger, your computer will think you are pressing a key on a standard keyboard. You can assign the object to be a spacebar key, an arrow key, or a letter key. And you can connect several objects to Makey Makey at the same time, so that you can create game controllers, musical interfaces, and other button-controlled devices.
It might not sound like much fun, but the possibilities are endless, and Makey Makey's ease of use encourages quick-and-dirty experimentation. My 12-year-old was instantly transfixed by Makey Makey and she started making all sorts of things with it, including a drum machine triggered by apple slices, and a game controller out of a cardboard box and bits of foil.
Makey Makey also works with Scratch, the excellent kids' software development platform. Check out the Makey Makey games people have created using Scratch.
Makey Makey
By Joylabz
$(removed) Buy one on Amazon
