Speaker Notes
A 20-minute teaching demo for students aged 12–18. Plain language, no jargon. We ask Claude to build three little toys live.
Total budget: 20 minutes. Times are cumulative.
1. Title (0:00 – 0:45)
Welcome to the AI and Electronics Workshop. In 20 minutes we will build three little gadgets together, mixing electronics and AI. We will ask an AI called Claude to write them for us. By the end you will have toys you can play with your keyboard now, and with a banana in a few minutes. No coding experience needed.
- Energy up. Promise three working toys by the end.
2. What is the Internet of Things? (0:45 – 2:30)
The Internet of Things is everyday things connected to computers. Point at the four cards (phone, smartwatch, smart lights, game controller). Then walk the bottom strip left to right:
something happens in the real world → it becomes a signal → the computer reads it → the computer does something back.
That loop is the whole idea. We are about to build the simplest possible version of it, three times.
- Keep it concrete. Do not define "sensor" or "protocol". Use things they already own.
3. Meet Makey Makey — and its secret (2:30 – 4:30)
The heart of the talk. Hold up the board if you have one. Makey Makey does one clever trick: to the computer it looks exactly like a keyboard. Touching a banana is the same as pressing the Space bar. Show the key map.
Because of that secret, we do not need the hardware to start. We build our toys now and test them with the keyboard, and later the very same toys work when you clip on a banana. Nothing in the code changes.
- This "it is just a keyboard" idea is the one thing they must remember.
4. Meet Claude, our AI builder (4:30 – 6:00)
You are not expected to write code. You describe what you want in plain English and Claude writes it.
- Open claude.ai in the browser and sign in — the free plan is enough, nothing to install.
- The key thing to show: when Claude writes a web app, it renders live in the Artifact preview panel right next to the chat. You see and play your toy immediately.
Get everyone to claude.ai now. We are about to build three toys in a row, typing the prompt together each time.
5. Build 1 of 3 — Banana Piano (6:00 – 9:30)
Read the prompt out loud slowly while everyone types it into Claude. Keep it exactly this short. Stress the last sentence, "make it work with a normal keyboard", because that is what lets them play it without the board. Press enter and watch the Artifact panel build the piano live. Play a few keys.
This first build is the longest because you are also teaching the rhythm: ask, watch, play. If anyone falls behind or the network is slow, open the finished piano — it always works.
6. Build 2 of 3 — Memory Game (9:30 – 12:30)
The first real step up: the app now has to remember a sequence, not just react. That is the jump from a toy that responds to one with rules you can win or lose. Read the prompt slowly while they type. Build it live, do one round together, then let two students take turns — one watches, one repeats. The four arrow pads are exactly four bananas later. Backup is the finished memory game.
7. Build 3 of 3 — Catch & Dodge (12:30 – 15:30)
The challenge build: a full game loop with fruit falling, a basket to steer, and a choice — grab the fruit, dodge the bombs. Only the arrow keys are used, which is perfect for a banana joystick later. Build it live and play one quick round so they see the score climb and a bomb cost a life. By now they should believe they can ask Claude for almost anything. If short on time, keep this one briefest. Backup is the finished game.
Bonus. Super Mario showcase (optional — skip if short on time)
Optional crowd-pleaser that sits outside the 20-minute budget — drop it the moment you are tight on the clock. The point is honesty about tools: the three toys they just built came from the free claude.ai in the browser, and that is genuinely enough. This Mario level is the ceiling — same idea (talk to an AI, get a toy) but made with a paid model called Fable 5, driven through Claude Code, a developer tool rather than the chat box.
Read the one-sentence prompt aloud and let it land that the whole game came from that single line:
Create a Mario mini-game with high fidelity and precision, and make it look visually appealing.
Stress that nothing is a downloaded asset — every pixel and every sound is generated in code. Play ten seconds (jump on a Goomba, hit a question block), then tie it back: it still runs on the same arrows, Space, and Click, so a banana would drive Mario just like the other three. Do not ask them to recreate it — that needs paid tooling. Inspire, then move on.
8. Now add a banana (15:30 – 17:30)
Connect back to the loop from section 2: real world, signal, computer, action. The big reveal: adding the hardware changes nothing in the code — the banana just presses Space or an arrow for you.
Plant ideas for the hands-on time: turn the game into a banana joystick, wire four bananas to the memory game, or ask Claude to change the sounds. Encourage them to keep asking Claude for small changes.
9. Your turn + thank you (17:30 – 20:00)
Recap the three steps so anyone can repeat this at home with Claude. Point them to the handout, which has all three prompts. Read the safety line clearly before handing out the boards: food and foil only, hold the Earth bar to complete the circuit, never anything on mains power. Thank them and hand over to the hands-on session. Leave the demos and handout links up.