We don't need any snow to build this awesome snowman.

We just need some foam balls, stiff wire, festive decorations, a Circuit Playground Express (CPX) with CRICKIT, a servo motor and some extra electronic goodies.

To make this snowman dance, just touch the top of his hat! This triggers a servo in his belly that moves his body around.

This guide will show how to program this groovy guy using Microsoft MakeCode, an easy to use block-based programming system.

Prerequisite Guides

Reading or at least skimming through these guides before beginning will help you understand this build. You can always refer back to them if you need help.

Adafruit Parts

1 x Circuit Playground Express
Circuit Playground Express is a great introduction to electronics and programming
1 x Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express
Crickit: Creative Robotics and Interactive Construction Kit is an add-on to Circuit Playground Express
1 x Micro servo
A little servo can rotate approximately 180 degrees (90 in each direction)
1 x Small Alligator Clip Test Lead (set of 12)
Enables capacitive touch for the snowman's hat
1 x USB cable
USB A to Micro-B (Plugs into computer to program CRICKIT and Circuit Playground)

Optional but recommended: 

1 x Copper Foil Tape with Conductive Adhesive - 6mm x 15 meter roll
Enables capacitive touch for the snowman's hat

Tools and Materials

  • 3 white foam balls: roughly sized 13 cm, 10 cm, and 7 cm in diameter (found at craft stores)
  • Thick wire (around 16 gauge - found at craft stores)
  • Medium to large width corrugated cardboard - need at least 1 sheet sized 18 x 18 cm
  • Black foam sheet
  • Orange model magic (for carrot nose)
  • Black rhinestones (for eyes and mouth)
  • Black buttons
  • A couple small twigs
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun + a couple glue sticks
  • Aluminum foil
  • Glue stick
  • Wire cutter (for cutting and bending wire)

This guide was first published on Dec 07, 2018. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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