1+ 2+ 3 Candy Alert
By Cy Tymony
Devise sneaky uses for high-tech candy packaging and other small toys.
You will need: Gummy candy with light-up tongs, R/C car transmitter, and a noisemaker
(such as one from a candy toy cellphone)
Candy makers are including innovative extras with their products that sneaky scavengers can reuse for
projects. A cursory look around the candy aisle reveals spring-loaded containers, light- and sound-producing cellphone toys, battery-powered fans with amazing light shows, even tongs that light up when
you squeeze them to grab gummy candy. The batteries, switches, LEDs, and motors included in just these
4 packages would cost about $10 if purchased separately. Here’s how to easily modify some of these
useful parts for sneaky projects, in this case an intruder alert.
1. Tape the toy tongs’ switch to a door.
The light-up tongs include a watch battery, an LED,
and a pressure switch that activates when you
squeeze the tongs. This switch can be removed to
act as a security trigger when it’s positioned with
tape to a door, window, cabinet, or drawer (Figure 1).
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2. Wire the switch to an R/C car transmitter.
Connect the tong switch’s 2 wires to an R/C car’s
transmitter activator button (see MAKE, Volume 05,
page 113) so that it can alert you when doors or
windows have been breached (Figure 2).
3. Wire the R/C receiver to a noisy alarm.
Now connect the R/C receiver’s output contacts to
a noisemaker — such as the candy toy cellphone.
You can also wire the tong switch directly to the
toy cellphone (Figure 3).
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Going further:
A candy fan toy can be converted into a motorized
car. A spring-loaded candy stick makes a great
sneaky security device, triggering the toy cellphone
alarm like a Rube Goldberg contraption.
Magazines sometimes include high-tech inserts
to promote products, and these too have parts ripe
for the reusing. NBC recently placed Bionic Woman
TV show promotional inserts in major magazines.
These inserts included 2 watch batteries on a
printed circuit board, connecting wire, and a slide
switch that lit a super-bright LED when you turned
the page. If purchased separately these parts would
cost nearly $10, and you can easily put them to use
as alarms, educational quiz testers, and more.
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Cy Tymony is the author of the Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things book series. He lives in Los Angeles. sneakyuses.com
Illustrations by Tim Lillis
112 Make: Volume 13
