Conductive Dough and Makey-Makey

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make your own conductive dough and combine it with Makey Makey, to create all sorts of interactive objects.

You will need:

• ½ cup water
• 1 & ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup salt
• 3 Tbsp. Cream of tartar*
• Food coloring (optional)

*9 Tbsp. of lemon juice may be substituted.

1. Mix water, 1 cup of flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, and food coloring in a medium sized pot
2. Cook over medium heat and stir continuously
3. Once a ball forms, place the ball on a lightly floured surface
4. Slowly knead the remaining flour into the ball until you’ve reached a desired consistency.

Be careful not to add too much flour, your dough won’t ever reach a really hard consistency (like the one of play doh). If you add too much flour, overnight your dough will dry out.

You can now use the conductive dough and combine it with the Makey Makey to build interactive items, for example musical instruments, video game controllers, etc.

One useful tip: when the ambient temperature reaches 25° and above, you will notice that the conductive dough looses a bit of its consistency. The same will happen after manipulating the dough in your hands for a few consecutive minutes.