Game Timer

If you are a card game and board game lover, you have probably experienced difficulty with timers before. Maybe you've used an hourglass timer and not noticed that time had run out since it makes no sound. Maybe you've used an hourglass timer and needed to stop the time half way through and restart it which is impossible unless you wait for the rest of the sand to fall. Or maybe you have played games with someone before who volunteered to use their phone as the timer except that person had the sound off on their phone so the timer went off without anyone realizing. If you've experienced these game timer struggles or any others, then this game timer might be the solution for you.

• 1 Circuit Playground Express kit
• 4 metal buttons or snaps, preferably ones with holes.
• 4 twist tie pieces. I personally used two twist ties and cut them each in half. Make sure you use ones with a metal wire inside of them, not plastic
• A needle
• Thread
• A piece of felt
• Scissors
• Tape

Use the MakeCode site to code your timer. Your can code your own timer or just copy my coding as seen in the images. I created my coding so that my timer would have a one minute, two minute, and three minute option.

When you are done, download the code and load it onto your Circuit Playground Express using the USB cord that came in the kit with your Circuit Playground.

Insert batteries into the Circuit Playground Battery pack.

Use scissors to cut away the plastic casing on your piece of twist tie to expose 0.5-1 cm of metal wire on each side of the twist tie. Repeat for the 3 remaining twist tie sections.

Twist one of the twist tie pieces onto each of the pins in your code using the section of exposed metal wire that you just created. See pictures for reference. If you copied my code, you will need to attach a twist tie to pin A2, A5, A6, and A7. Make sure that the metal wire doesn't overlap with itself at any point because that will cause a short (It is okay if the metal wire overlaps with the section of twist tie still covered by the plastic encasing).

Take your piece of felt and plan where you want the four buttons to be, making sure to plan the buttons somewhere in the center of the piece of felt. Since three of the buttons are used for different lengths of time and one button is a reset button, I chose to do one row of three buttons with the reset button below them. Use a pencil to mark these spots and create a small hole at each of the spots. The hole only has to be big enough for the metal wire on the twist tie to get through. I used a paper clip to make the holes, but almost anything small and pointy will work.

Attach the battery pack to your Circuit Playground Express and stack the Circuit Playground on top of the battery pack, making sure that the battery pack's on/off switch is on the opposite side of the pack from the Circuit Playground Express. Optional: use a couple pieces of tape to secure the Circuit Playground Express onto the battery pack.

Take one of the twist ties that is attached to the Circuit Playground Express and poke the exposed wire through its corresponding hole on the felt. Take the metal button/snap and wrap the exposed wire poking through the felt to it. I recommend folding the twist tie like an accordion so that the twist tie section between the button and Circuit Playground Express is collapsible. Repeat for each button.

Make sure the battery pack is on and test the connection by pushing each of the buttons. You should see the Circuit Playground Express light up.

Secure the buttons to the felt using a needle and thread. For my project, I did this by sewing a few loops through each of the remaining holes on the button.

Fold the felt around the back of the Circuit Playground Express and battery pack. If you are using a standard piece of felt, you should have around 1-2 inches of material overlapping from each end of the felt. If you use a bigger piece of felt, trim it so that around 1 inch of it is overlapping. Take the needle and thread and use a running stitch to attach the two ends of the felt together. When you are done, the felt will make a tube around the Circuit Playground express and battery pack.

Trim the felt so that there is no more than 1.5 inches of felt beyond the edge of the buttons on the left and right sides of the tube. Take one end of the tube and flatten it against itself. Sew the flattened end closed using a running stitch. Repeat for the other side.

Make sure that the battery pack is flipped to the on position. If it is not, you should easily be able to feel the switch on the back of the timer and push it into the on position. Test the buttons again. The Circuit Playground Express should still light up when they are pushed.

Use a needle and thread to embroider button labels.

After this, you are done! Your timer is complete.