Makey Makey

What Can I Make?

That's up to you! First, load up a computer program or any webpage.



Let's say you load up a piano. Then, instead of using the computer keyboard buttons to play the piano, you can hook up the Makey Makey to something fun, like bananas, and the bananas become your piano keys 

Or let's say you Google for an online Pacman game and draw a joystick with a pencil: 

 

Then you can play Pacman by touching the drawing. 

Or you could load up facebook or gmail and send a message on a custom-made alphabet-soup keyboard: 

 

What's Makey Makey?

Makey Makey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything inbetween: 

 

The kit will include everything you see above: Makey Makey, Alligator Clips, USB Cable. 

How Does it Work?

Alligator Clip two objects to the Makey Makey board. For example, you and a banana. 

 

When you touch the banana, you make a connection, and Makey Makey sends the computer a keyboard message. The computer just thinks Makey Makey is a regular keyboard (or mouse). Therefore it works with all programs and webpages, because all programs and webpages take keyboard and mouse input. 

Make + Key = Makey Makey! 

Who is Makey Makey For?

Artists, Kids, Educators, Engineers, Designers, Inventors, Makers... Really it is for everyone. Here is a photo of an 8-year-old using Makey Makey: 

 

She invented a "knife-and-log" interface for cutting virtual wood in an online game.

What materials work with Makey Makey?

Any material that can conduct at least a tiny bit of electricity will work. Here are some materials people have used in our workshops including Ketchup, Pencil Graphite, Finger Paint, Lemons, etc.: 

 

Other materials that work great: Plants, Coins, Your Grandma, Silverware, Anything that is Wet, Most Foods, Cats and Dogs, Aluminum Foil, Rain, and hundreds more... 

Why Are You Creating Makey Makey?

We believe that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative. We believe that everyone can create the future and change the world. So we have dedicated our lives to making easy-to-use invention kits. We believe that the whole world is a construction kit, if we choose to see it that way. 

We are inspired by the Maker Movement. We want to help people start to think of themselves as Makers and agents of change. When you have the "Maker's Mindset," you know you can change the world. 

Before we created Makey Makey we worked on other creative tools and invention kits such as: Drawdio, Singing Fingers, and Scratch.