Playing with Science: Unboxing Dough Circuit Piano
May 19, 2023
Are you looking for a fun S.T.E.M activity that is fun for the whole family? Do you have a kid who loves science and music? If so, look no further than the Dough Circuit Piano Thinking Kit from 4M! At only $21.99, this skill-building, mind-stretching boredom-buster teaches children about the magic of electrical conductivity and encourages them to explore the world of music! Let’s check it out together!
The Dough Circuit Piano Kit is geared for ages 4 and up (with parent help) but would be fun for kids of many ages! Even our staff couldn’t get enough of it! I love that this science experiment doubles as musical toy that kids can enjoy long after the science project is completed. I also love that kids can use their creativity to decorate their piano however they like.
How does it work? As the kit explains, “The piano module sends out safe electrical signals. When you touch both the ground pin and any of the dough strips attached to the piano module, your body transmits the electrical signal and completes a circuit which triggers the unique sound. You become part of the circuit!”
What’s in the Kit? Just grab some AAA batteries (not included) and you have everything you need to make your own beautiful and functional piano! The Dough Circuit Piano kit includes the piano module (the orange rectangle) and two double-sided music sheets with the songs “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Old Macdonald Had a Farm,” and “Row Row Row Your Boat.” The kit also includes an instruction sheet, piano key stickers to put on the module, and the most important part, dough! There are four colors of dough- white, yellow, blue, and red for your child to mix to their heart’s content to create the piano keys.
Let’s Get Started!
The module comes without the stickers on, so first, let's decorate it! Stick on some silly googly eyes, some bugs, and the colored and numbered piano keys.
There, that’s better!
Now it’s time to get our creativity going!
Let's grab our dough and get started on making the piano keys! Have fun with this part, the sky's the limit! Kids can mix colors, play around with shapes, and just have fun!
I started with the red and rolled a small amount of dough in my hands to make a snakelike cylinder. Then I added some white. Next, attach one end of the dough to any one of the metal contact pins, (I started from left to right.) We have to make sure that none of the strips of dough touch each other, so to make it easier, I curved the dough to the left to allow for more room for the rest of the dough keys.
Now, keep going! Add more dough keys, and play around with the color, shape, and length of dough keys. Here’s what I came up with:
Important! Make sure that none of the dough keys are touching one another! Each metal contact pin must have only one strip of dough touching it as well.
Now for the moment we've all been waiting for, let's make some music! Your child can use the included sheet music, or they can make their own songs!
To make the piano work, all you need to do is switch on the module, then touch any strip of dough with one hand, and touch the metal ring (ground pin) with the other hand to play a note on the piano. The electricity will flow through your body to make the musical notes play out loud. How cool is that?