Kids craft: Hand fan

You will need:
2 battery pads
A pencil and scissors
A toilet-tissue tube
Masking tape
Wire (24 gauge, single strand)
A small DC motor (1.5 V)
A D cell battery (1.5 V)
Tissues
A clothespin
Glue
A utility knife
A bottle cork
A Popsicle stick (or a propeller, available at craft and hobby stores)

Directions:
Click here for the step-by-step images.

1. Use a pencil or scissors to punch a small hole in the side of the cardboard tube. Push the wire from one battery pad into the tube and out the hole. Tape over the end so the battery pad won't fall out.

2. Cut a piece of wire 20 cm (8 in.) long and remove 2.5 cm (1 in.) of insulation from one end.

3. Wrap the bare end of this wire around one of the two connector tabs on the motor. Secure it with a drop of glue. Poke the other end into the top of the tube and out the hole in the side.

4. Slide the battery into the tube positive end down. Pack around it with tissues so it doesn't move. Push the other battery pad inside the tube, leaving the loose wire poking out from the top.

5. Remove 5 cm (2 in.) of insulation from this loose wire. Wrap the bare wire around the motor's other connector tab. Secure it with a drop of glue.

6. Remove 5 cm (2 in.) of insulation from the two remaining wires.

7. Connect these wires to make a pushbutton switch. Test your connection by pushing the clothespin legs together until the wires touch and your fan motor comes on. If it doesn't work, check the wire connections or the battery contact. Glue the switch onto the tube.

8. Tuck in the motor wires. Glue the motor to the inside of the tube so that its shaft, the part that spins, is pointing out.

9. Cut a 1 cm (1/2 in.) slice from the cork and press it onto the motor shaft.

10. Glue the Popsicle stick onto the cork to act as the fan blade. As the motor spins, it will turn the cork, causing the Popsicle-stick blade to turn, too.

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Excerpted from Electric Gadgets and Gizmos by Alan Bartholomew. Copyright 2004 by Allan and Lynn Bartholomew. Excerpted, with permission by Kids Can Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.