Build Christmas lights lesson plan
Four holiday builds on the Uno, from a star on the tree to a light show synced to a song, each one ready to hang up.
Objectives and materials
By the end, students can
- Light a star on one data wire and ring real bells from a doorbell.
- Count down to Christmas from a real-time clock, then sync three strips to a song.
Materials for the whole unit
- Addressable RGB LEDs x 3
- Arduino Uno R3
- DFPlayer Mini MP3 module
- Eight-digit display, MAX7219
- Full-size breadboard
- Half breadboard
- Hobby servo
- Pushbutton
- Real-time clock, DS3231
- Resistor x 4
- Speaker, 8 ohm
Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.
The tree and the door
Light a star on one data wire and ring real bells from a doorbell.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Build 1: a tree topper starA ring of 16 WS2812B LEDs behind a star cutout, with four shows a button steps through. How one data wire drives every LED, and how to draw a frame without delay(). | 55 min |
|
| Build 2: a sleigh-bell doorbellPress the doorbell and a servo shakes real sleigh bells while a speaker plays Jingle Bells. A tune as two arrays, tone(), and a servo that keeps the beat. | 55 min |
|
Materials
- Addressable RGB LEDs
- Arduino Uno R3
- Half breadboard
- Hobby servo
- Pushbutton
- Resistor
- Speaker, 8 ohm
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Build 2: a sleigh-bell doorbell" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "On the porch".
The window and the roof
Count down to Christmas from a real-time clock, then sync three strips to a song.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Build 3: a countdown in the windowA DS3231 keeps the date and an eight-digit MAX7219 display counts down to Christmas morning. Why a real-time clock beats millis(), and date arithmetic with DateTime. | 55 min |
|
| Build 4: a light show synced to musicA DFPlayer plays the song and three LED strips follow a cue list timed in beats. How synced shows really work, what xLights does at a larger scale, and what this sketch does by hand. | 70 min |
|
Materials
- Addressable RGB LEDs x 3
- Arduino Uno R3
- DFPlayer Mini MP3 module
- Eight-digit display, MAX7219
- Full-size breadboard
- Half breadboard
- Real-time clock, DS3231
- Resistor x 4
- Speaker, 8 ohm
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Build 4: a light show synced to music" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "The end of the song".
Teach this unit as a class
Start a class from this course and its 4 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.
The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.