Switch-Adapting a Walking Crab Toy for Accessible Play

The walking crab is a fantastic, high-energy toy, but its speed can make it difficult for children with physical disabilities to trigger or interact with. To bridge this gap, the internal circuitry was modified to include a 3.5mm mono jack. This allows a large, accessible "buddy button" to be plugged in, giving the child full control over when the crab scampers away. Now, instead of just watching it move, the child becomes the one in charge of the chase.

Material:

Walking crab toy

1 Mono Female Jack to Bare Wire

Flux

Wire

Solder

3/16'' heat shrink tubing

Heat Tape(Kapton Tape)

Big Red Button

Remove the screws from the button of the crab to access the inside of it.

Locate the circuit board and unscrew it from the bottom part of the crab toy.

Using a wire cutter cut the power and ground wire between the battery and circuit board to make place to add monojack for button functionality.

Drill a hole though the top of the turtle to get the mono jack wires inside.

We kept the original on/off switch to ensure the toy can still be powered down fully. However, the 'play' functionality has been moved to the external button; once powered up, the crab won't move until the child hits the switch.

Slide heat shrink tubing on the ground and power of the mono jack wires.

Solder the ground and power of the mono jack to the corresponding battery wires connecting to the circuit.

Move the heat shrink tubing over the exposed wire and used the heat gun to cover it completely.

Screw everything back into place and when you flip the switch to the ON position, upon pressing the button it will move. Hot glue can also be added to the monojack to hold it in place for safety use.