In celebration of Read Across America week, we had students vote for their favorite Dr. Seuss book. The interactive display was in our main lobby for everyone to see. Students pressed their choice and received a message from Thing 1 and Thing 2 thanking them for voting. The code was done in Scratch and shared for you to use.

Step 1: Gather Materials

Cardboard (cereal boxes work great!)
Cardstock or colored paper
Aluminum foil
Conductive tape
Electrical tape
Foam padding
Wire
Duct tape
Scissors
Glue stick

Step 2: Step 1: Prepare the Voting Buttons

Cut the carboard to the size needed, I used 5 inch squares. Cut two for each voting button. Cut out the top cover in colored paper or cardstock. Glue cover to top of the button. I added a small picture of the book each button was for to help the students.

Cover top and bottom pieces of each voting button in aluminum foil. On back piece, cut foam padding to fit around edges of the square leaving an opening for the wires.

Cut a piece of wire to the size needed. Our voting station was set up in the lobby outside of a glass case. The wires had to run along the edge and into the case to the makey makey and chromebook. The best way was to cut them a bit longer to allow for any problems and trim during set up.

Strip the plastic cover from the wire for the last inch. Place wire on top of the foil on the back section and cover with a piece of conductive tape. Repeat for the front piece.

Apply glue around the edge of aluminum foil of the front piece. Sandwich the front to the back piece, making sure the wires are coming through the opening in the foam.

I added duct tape around the outside to hold the pieces together securely while 800 students voted. :)

Repeat for all of your voting buttons.

Step 3: Step 2: Connect It All Together

Each voting button now has two wires connected. One will be connected to Earth and one to the corresponding key on the makey makey.

Mount button securely. For each button, run the wires to the controller. Attach alligator clip to the stripped wire, wrap electrical tape around to be safe. Repeat for each wire. Connect to the makey.

To control all the wires, I covered the ones in the voting area with duct tape and wrapped the bunch with electrical tape.

Step 4: Step 3: Time to Vote!

Once the makey makey is connected, you are ready to vote! I placed the computer on a riser so everyone could see it easily. The Scratch code includes a time delay between votes to ensure students cannot vote 'rapid style'. Please feel free to use this code to create your own voting station! Enjoy!