CodeBug Blog

We hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It has been lovely to see all the pictures and videos of CodeBug, GlowBugs and ColourStar that you have been posting online over the Christmas break.

#christmas #star using #codebug #colourstar #coding @pimoroni @adafruit

A video posted by Hackminster (@hackminster) on Dec 30, 2015 at 1:01pm PST

@_codebug https://t.co/VNTJe8LLJB version 3x synchronized in french :-)

— Jean-Michel Reghem (@jimich) January 1, 2016

@GeekGurlDiaries @_codebug @RedTedArt We were a bit late so we did this instead https://t.co/lcB4W0jdKZ

— Qwerty Booster (@ColinLusk) January 3, 2016

Carrie Anne and Maggy made some great video tutorials for creating a CodeBug Christmas pudding bauble.

We joined in on the action with this colourful gingerbread house powered by GlowBugs and CodeBug.

Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks to @cgarside for the gingerbread house to hold @_codebug and glow bugs! pic.twitter.com/XO6h7uSrnn

— CodeBug (@_codebug) December 24, 2015

We hope you are as excited about 2016 as we are. This year has lots in store for CodeBug, it is going to be AMAZING!

The new Star Wars film is not so far far away and we here at CodeBug are eagerly awaiting the next chapter of the epic saga. To celebrate the release and to start feeling the force, we decided to make our own office lightsaber using CodeBug and GlowBugs. It was really fun and only took us a few parsecs to make (sic) ;)

The lightsaber activates when you press button A (make your own whooshing sounds) and cycles through 4 different colours when pressing button B. Get yourself some GlowBugs from The CodeBug Shop and try the lightsaber project out for yourself.

#codebug #starwars lightsaber with glowbugs, tweet @_codebug what's your favourite colour pic.twitter.com/pMVJajOIsq

— Tom Macpherson-Pope (@T_Mac_P) December 17, 2015

Tweet us @_codebug to let us know what your favourite colour is!

Get into the #starwars mood. Build your own lightsaber with @_codebug learn more https://t.co/KvcuJ9ir5E pic.twitter.com/CuOtsXhTzR

— CodeBug (@_codebug) December 17, 2015

It seems like we’re not the only ones getting excited about Star Wars, Mereside Primary have made a Yoda Sayings CodeBug project, clearly the force is strong with these young padawans.

@ItsAll_Geek2Me @tommarkpreston @T_Mac_P @Makerspace_CPC @_codebug @fortyfourMu #starwarsyodacodebug pic.twitter.com/RSi4YslutJ

— Thomas Sale (@TomSale) December 17, 2015

Christmas is just around the corner and here at CodeBug we can't wait as you'll have seen from the Christmas stars on our twitter

We're sharing the Christmas cheer with three festive costume templates for you to dress up your CodeBugs, a reindeer, a star, and a bauble. Follow this CodeBug activity for useful tips on sewing your costumes

Don't forget ColourStars and GlowBugs are available from The CodeBug Shop to brighten up your winter nights.

We love that people have already started dressing up their CodeBugs in seasonal attire.

Creating a Christmas message with Year 6 this week using @_codebug tested using my Christmas codebug Santa #codebug pic.twitter.com/FtmY6Fc5ub

— Thomas Sale (@TomSale) November 30, 2015

Our @_codebug in pride of place at our church Christmas tree festival.Thank. You @FarnellNews @Conpapai @cgarside pic.twitter.com/XnV7AAk6iA

— Mark my Words (@stmarkmywords) December 11, 2015

Don't forget to tweet @_codebug with what you make with CodeBug and we'll feature it in a future blog.

We’re getting into the festive cheer here at CodeBug and to celebrate Christmas we are releasing CodeBug GlowBugs and ColourStar! Make your projects wonderfully colourful and decorate your home with these full colour light up stars and mini croc-clippable bugs. Check out The CodeBug Shop to get yours today :)

We have already sent out a few ColourStars and GlowBugs to see what people think of them and we're excited by what you're creating with them.

@_codebug Xmas star with 1st stab at glow code. Going to tweek the code & then tether to tree with conductive thread pic.twitter.com/UmHJz1WgPI

— Kev Howson (@Makerspace_CPC) December 7, 2015

Ooh oooooh...A fairy wand, or a star tree topper, or an electric guitar!? #exciting @_codebug pic.twitter.com/fdTV6pSEEh

— ItsAll_GeekToMe (@ItsAll_Geek2Me) November 30, 2015

ColourStar plugs straight onto your CodeBug and has handy mounting holes for building your own star wand or to sew it to a jumper and become the brightest star in the room this holiday. There are so many ways to brighten up these winter nights with ColourStar, you could use it as a Christmas tree topper, or even as a dining table centerpiece.

GlowBugs connect to your CodeBug using the croc-clippable legs. You can control up to 80 of them from a single CodeBug, perfect for decorating your Christmas tree.

ColourStar and GlowBugs are really easy to use, and we have written some fun activities to get you started including making your own ColourStar wand and how to use GlowBugs as wearables as well as introduction guides to both GlowBugs and ColourStar.

Give the gift of coding this Christmas in full colour!

We had a great talk yesterday at the element14 CodeBug Wearables competition with Amy Mather (aka MiniGirlGeek) and Mike McGlade from Microchip Technology Inc. Talked to school children about why computing is important for young people to learn about and the amazing things that can be done with it.

The event launches element14's wearables competition which is designed to encourage school children into Computer Science and STEM subjects.

All the participants seemed eager to get started coming up with potential ideas for their entries. More information on the event can be found here. We wish them all the best of luck with the competition!