Whether you homeschool your kids or you want to make study time a little more interesting FLASH CARD GLOVES are a great way to get things moving.

The game is simple, each participant puts a glove on. Pick up a flash card (with a math problem on it for example) and throw it to your student. When they catch it the lights will start flashing faster and faster. They have to solve the problem on the flash card and throw it to the next person before the light stops flashing.

The gloves are not too hard to make as long as you have the right materials and the right code.

This instructable makes TWO Flash Card Gloves

MATERIALS:

A pair of gloves
Felt
Thread
Sewing needle
Arduino Lilypad Simple
8 sewable LED's (4 blue, 4 red)
Battery for lilypad
Lilypad USB cable
Conductive thread
Conductive fabric

Step 1: Step 1: Flashing Light Patch Part 1

In this step we are going to use the lilypad, a square of felt, conductive thread and four LED lights to create a light patch. This is the main idea behind these gloves.

Be sure to check out the circuit diagram before beginning. I would also recommend frequently checking your work against the diagram and even drawing it out yourself to be sure that everything makes sense.

Cut out four 2 1/2x2 1/2 inch squares out of the felt

Take one square and place the lilypad in the center. Take four LED's (all of the same color) and place them in each corner of the felt with the positive end facing in toward the lilypad.

Line the lilypad up on the felt so that pinhole 9 is at the top (facing north, 12 o clock or however you want to think of it) pinhole 11 should be approximately at the northwest position, A4 should be facing down, south or 6 or clock, the - (negative) pinhole should be at about 4:30 or southeast and pinhole 2 should be around northeast.

Sewing

When sewing through each LED or lilypad pinhole it is important that you sew through the hole 3-4 times to be sure that you have enough of a connection.

Before you begin sewing and after you have the LED's and lilypad in position it may be easier to work with them if you use a small amount of tape to secure them down , be sure not to cover pinholes that you will need with the tape.

In this step we will be sewing from each of the inward facing + (positive) LED pinholes to lilypad pinholes 11, 2, A5 and A3.

First: Using conductive thread sew 3 to 4 times through the top left LED +(positive) pinhole then do a couple small stitches through the felt moving toward lilypad pinhole 11. Sew through 11 3 to 4 times and tie it off. Be sure not to leave any loose thread hanging off either end as this is very likely to short your circuit.

Use a different piece of conductive thread, beginning at the + end of the top right LED, and use the same procedure above to connect it to lilypad pinhole 2.

With a new piece of thread connect the bottom right + LED pinhole to lilypad A5.

With a new piece of conductive thread connect the bottom left + LED pinhole to lilypad A3.

Step 2: Step 2: Flashing Light Patch Part 2

Sewing part 2

Now that the positives are sewn it is time sew the negatives. Review the diagram for how the negatives go. This is important to follow exactly so you don't run into issues later where the positive will cross the negative (this will cause a short circuit and nothing will work).

Start a line of conductive thread at the - lilypad pinhole (make sure to go around at least 3 times as usual) and sew to the left edge of the felt avoiding any contact with the thread connecting the positive end of the LED to lilypad 11 pinhole. Once you get to the left edge of the felt sew up to the top left corner and sew 3 to 4 times through the - LED pinhole. With the same piece of conductive thread sew along the top edge of the felt to the top right corner of the felt and sew the conductive thread at least 3 times around the top right - LED pinhole. That is the end of that line.

Now you will do the same thing for the bottom half. Start a new line of conductive thread and sew it diagonally down toward the bottom left edge. Once you get to the edge sew down to the bottom left corner and connect the thread to the bottom left LED - pinhole. Continue that same piece fo conductive thread along the bottom edge of the felt to the bottom right - LED pinhole and connect it.

The negative lines are represented in green broken-dotted lines.

Step 3: Step 3: Sew the Sensor Patches

Grab one of the gloves. This will be a right handed glove so put the glove down in front of you so that the thumb is pointing to the right.

Take your conductive fabric and cut out two 3/4 x 2 inch rectangles.

Take one conductive fabric rectangle and place it on the right side of the palm of the glove sitting lenth wise from top to bottom. Using a piece of conductive thread secure the patch to the glove by sewing along the entire perimiter of the patch. After you have gone along the entire edge of the patch leave an extra 4-6 inch strand of conductive thread connected to the right side of the patch, this will be used later to connect the patch to the lilypad.

Now take the second patch of conductive fabric and place it on the left side of the glove. Fasten the fabric to the glove by again sewing it with conductive thread around the perimeter. Leave 4-6 inches extra thread on the left side as this will be used later to connect to the lilypad.

Step 4: Step 4: Sew the Light Up Patch to the Glove

Turn the glove over so that the thumb is now facing the left.

Using Non-Conductive normal old thread sew the patch to the glove. Don't worry, the non-conductive thread wont interfere at all with the conductive thread you have already sewn into the felt. I recommend sticking some cardboard or a credit card inside the glove to stretch it out, this will help it to not be too tight when you try to wear the glove.

Simply sew around the perimeter of the felt, attaching the light-up patch you made in steps 1 and 2 to the glove.

Step 5: Step 5: Connect the Sensor Patches

Now that the Flashing Light Patch is attached to the glove you are ready to attach the patches via the loose 4-6 inches I had you leave in step 3. First flip your glove so that the patches are facing up. Start with the strand of conductive thread coming off of the right-hand patch and sew into the fabric of the glove and around to the other side. Make your thread path go under the thumb, around the other side and connect it to lilypad pinhole A2.

When sewing the thread around the glove be sure to leave a little slack in the thread. You will want the thread to be a little loose when you put on the glove.

Next do the same thing for the other side. Flip the glove back over so you can see the patches. Take the strand from the left patch and sew it around the other side. Connect it to the - port on the lilypad. It does not matter if it toughes other negative lines but it can not touch positive lines.