A Real Cheddar Box ..

Hi, this Instructable was made for my kitten Max! The mouse can't seem to catch the cheese, the cheddar is too bright ..

Here's a list of materials used;

1. Cardboard box
2. Large popsicle stick
3. Small popsicle sticks
4. Styrofoam (mouse)
5. 9v battery
6. Insulated electrical wire
7. Wood dowel's (lever)
8. A Spring (mouse perch)
9. Any conductive metal (pop can)
10. Ceramic magnet (counter-weight)
11. Acrylic paint - paint brush
12. Yellow Led + 330/ohm resister
13. Glue gun (sticks)
14. Twist tie
15. File & sand paper
16. Scissors ✂

I used this box from an old chess game I have. I began by cutting 6 pieces of wooden dowel, these will be the stands that hold the shaft going across. I hot-glued them onto small popsicle sticks, as a base for the large popsicle stick to sit on.

I cut 4 of the 6 pieces the same size & 2 I cut a bit smaller. The shaft will go across & lock in-between. I used a single piece of dowel as the shaft going across. I hot-glued the tops of the stands to secure the shaft.

I finished off by hot-gluing a large popsicle stick onto the single dowel (shaft), and added a ceramic magnet to the underside front, of the pop-stick, for counterweight. (Finger presses down)

I used a square piece of Styrofoam & an outline of a mouse was drawn on both sides. Next I used a small pair of sharp scissors to cut around the outline. * ⚠ Be careful it's easy to cut yourself ⚠ *

I used a file & sandpaper (1000/g) to smooth out any rough edges ( ⚠ is needed around the ears % nose )

I cut around 8 or 9 pieces of small popsicle sticks & glued them to the top of the box. Then notched two of the middle sticks for a spring to fit between. I hot-glued the spring in place.

I drilled a small pilot hole in the bottom of the mouse to mount onto the spring, using hot-glue to secure the mouse. Now I had to line up the large popsicle stick (lever) with the underside of the lid of the box, as to cut a small square opening, for the cheesy light to peak out. 🚦

I mounted the mouse close enough to the light so it would jab the nose of the mouse when the lever is pressed, the mouse goes for a little ride on the spring!

I hot-glued a yellow LED (light) to the large pop-stick & altogether, ran three wires. I hot-glued a piece of metal to the underside of the lid, just by the edge of the cut out. One wire is coming from the positive terminal (+) of the 9v battery and, gets connected to the Positive leg (long leg) of the LED.

⚠ Electricity is Dangerous

A second wire connects from the the negative side (short leg) side of the LED, to a metal piece glued to the end of the pop-stick.(Contact switch)

Now, from the metal piece on the lid, a third wire goes to the 330/ohm resister & connects to the Negative terminal (-) of the 9v battery. When the the lever is pressed down, the metal piece connected to the end of the pop-stick contacts the metal piece connected to the lid, which closes the circuit, turning the "On" the LED.

When the lever is pressed to the "Down" position, it will automatically come back to it's normal "Up" position, do to a magnet glued on the opposite side to the LED. It works as Counter-Weight.

I used an Acrylic paint (hobby) for both the mouse & box. My kitten loves playing with it, I can hardly keep him from eating the mouse ..

⚠ It's best not to have the wires connected to the battery during painting ⚠