In the weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak closed down Texas State University campus, my class got together to show off our homemade toys from an activity we did called "Toy Take Apart." Essentially, we took apart a store-bought toy and rebuilt/modified toys using spare components, motors, crafts, and a little computer programming. From these we constructed brand new toys. The one I constructed had a bell function that activated a speaker box (which was the only mechanical part of my toy, which was very low tech to begin with).

                                                           My toy before and after...

This particular activity was intriguing for me, because it was not only insightful but also somewhat emotional. Dissecting the to wasn’t difficult to do, but whilst doing so I felt something I can only describe as guilt. Albeit mild guilt. Like a child who's forced to give up his favorite toy because he’s outgrown it. I mentioned this to my fellow classmates, who sympathized with what I was feeling. Seeing as I bought the toy myself, I believe I developed a form of sentimental attachment to it, even though I had only owned it for a day.

Regardless, the dissection itself proved simple enough, revealing the mechanics inside. The only “technical” aspect of my particular toy was a small speaker box. While some of my fellow classmates disassembled their toys in order to reprogram the circuit inside, I was hesitant to do so, for fear I would be unable to reassemble my speaker box. However, what I would want to learn in the future is how to successful reprogram and reconstruct a device with a modified program using Micro:bit.

In the end, once everyone had finished building their toys, showed them all off in class later that day. It was fun to see, even though it made me question what I was doing at the moment. I am looking forward to seeing everyone's upcoming impossible projects, and how they'll evolve as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantine.