How can I turn an ordinary battery operated toy into a switch operated toy?
There is no totally straightforward solution it requires a little bit of work! You can buy Battery Switch Adaptors that fit between the AA, C or D batteries in the toy. They cost 7 each from Inclusive Technology. These can be a bit fiddly to get in the right place (and you may have to use a Stanley knife to cut a little notch in the plastic battery compartment door, on some toys, to let the wire come out). They may not always be very robust, with a lot of use (the adaptor may slip or pull out or the socket/ cable connection may break) A better solution may be to permanently modify the toy by attaching a switch socket to it. This does require some electrical knowledge and some ability with hand tools and a soldering iron. Click here to open up a sheet telling you how to do this. You can get further information on adapting toys from The Alliance for Technology Access web site (http://ataccess.org/resources/wcp/endefault.html). This is an American site with useful information though the e
