8 weeks Maker workshop: Winter session Feb - April '26
Location : Environmental Education Center, Basking Ridge, NJ
Workshop Dates - Saturdays 2/21- 4/25(No classes on 4/11 & 4/18 - Spring Break) 8 weeks session
Grades 4 & 5: 12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM
Grades 6-8 : 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
TO REGISTER email: [email protected]
Details Below:
Grade 4 & 5 : Maker Foundations
How electronics sense the world!
- Location: Environmental Education Center, Basking Ridge,NJ
- Schedule: 8 weeks| 2 hours per session I Saturdays 12:00 Noon to 2 PM
- Grades: 4 & 5 | Class Size: 10 participants
- Fee: $425 per participant + $50 materials fee - Includes all electronics and robotics components, microcontroller and batteries for take home electronics projects and 2wd autonomous robot.
What You’ll Explore & Build
Kids will learn how everyday smart devices interact with the world through sensors - building their own sensor circuits and turning them into musical, glowing, interactive projects that they can proudly take home. Learners are also introduced to microcontrollers (micro:bit) and work step by step over the 8 weeks to build and program a smart two-wheel-drive robot they take home, bringing together sensors, circuits, mechanics, and code into a complete robotics system.
Each week brings a new hands-on maker challenge that blends sensors, microcontrollers, tinkering and fun!
Skills Gained
- Foundational engineering & robotics concepts.
- Understanding real-world sensors and how devices interact with their environment.
- Introduction to microcontrollers, physical computing and building robots.
- Hands-on circuit prototyping using breadboards.
- Hands-on understanding of how circuits, coding and mechanics work together to create robotics systems.
Prerequisite – Curiosity :-)
Grade 6-8: Maker Robotics Lab
- Location: Environmental Education Center, Basking Ridge,NJ
- Schedule: 8 weeks | Duration: 2 hours per session I Saturdays 2:30-4:30
- Grades: 6,7,8 | Class Size: 10 participants
- Fee: $425 per participant + $50 materials fee - Includes all electronics and robotics components, batteries, microcontroller and adafruit chassis for take home 2wd autonomous robots.
This 8-week hands-on workshop introduces students to electronics, sensors, microcontrollers, and robotics through structured build-and-test activities. Students design, wire, and program sensor-based robotic systems using the advanced Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) microcontroller boards and Python-based code. Students complete this level-1 workshop by demonstrating and taking home their build - a 2wd autonomous robot.
What students will learn & build:
- Learn to Use advanced RP2040- Raspberry Pi Pico based microcontrollers for robotics
- Python programming fundamentals for controlling microcontrollers, sensors and actuators for intelligent robotic behavior.
- Robotics fundamentals: Motor drivers and power management for robotic systems.
- Working with dual infrared sensors and calibrating autonomous robot movement and trajectory responses.
- Debugging & troubleshooting —learning to test, analyze, and improve systems.
- Team-based challenges involving robot coordination and interaction
Prerequisite – Curiosity :-)
Instructor(s)
Workshops will be led by Deepali Gaur, engineer and founder of Circuits2Robotics Eduventures, an online platform teaching robotics and electronics to young makers (ages 10+). Deepali has led numerous in-person maker and robotics programs for middle and high school students in NJ, NY and Singapore and has also mentored competitive high school robotics team that went on to win prestigious RoboCup Junior USA. Her work focuses on making advanced engineering concepts- such as microcontrollers, sensors, and robotics accessible through hands-on, build-based learning; she has developed 170+ structured online learning resources in physical computing, robotics, and Python, used by students aged 11–18 across the U.S. and UK. She will be assisted in the workshops by Ridge High School students & former Circuits2Robotics students.