Adafruit Circuit Playground Classic
The Circuit Playground Classic is a powerful and beginner-friendly development board ideal for learning electronics and creating wearable tech. Designed around the ATmega32u4 processor, it features a rich set of built-in components including NeoPixels, a temperature sensor, accelerometer, light and sound sensors, a speaker, capacitive touch pads, and more—all accessible without any soldering or sewing. Perfect for classroom or hobbyist use, it works with the Arduino IDE and code.org’s CS Discoveries curriculum right out of the box.
Users have created everything from reactive hats with UV and temperature sensing to musical sleeves that activate via touch, as described in The Ultimate Guide to Informed Wearable Tech. Its alligator-clip-friendly pads, built-in USB support, and HID capabilities (like acting as a keyboard or mouse) make it an incredibly versatile tool for projects on the go. Whether you’re just starting out or developing interactive wearables, Circuit Playground Classic is a creative, compact, and educational platform to bring your ideas to life.
$34.99
Only 2 left in stock
Product Info
This is an amazing starter board. Packed full of sensors it’s easy to get up and running with it!
I’ve used it for many projects and love it! It’s a great starter board but you can create fun wearables. I’ve made a hat with temperature sensing, servo moving axial fan, and UV light sensor readings.
Also, I’ve made a ‘touch together‘ project (you can learn how to make that project and others in the book, The Ultimate Guide to Informed Wearable Tech) that plays music when two people wear sleeves and touch their arms together. It uses conductive fabrics with the Circuit Playgrounds capacitive touch pads.
ABOUT
Would you like to learn electronics, with an all-in-one board that has sensors and LEDs built in? Circuit Playground is here – and it’s the best way to practice programming on real hardware with no soldering or sewing required!
This is the Classic version of Circuit Playground, which comes with an ATmega32u4. It’s designed to be used with Arduino IDE and code.org CS Discoveries only. It even comes with Firmata already programmed in, so you can use it immediately with code.org Discoveries without any preparation or updates.
If you would like to use MakeCode or CircuitPython, check out Circuit Playground Express, which can be used with MakeCode, CircuitPython or Arduino.
Circuit Playground features an ATmega32u4 processor, just like our popular Flora. The board’s also round and has alligator-clip pads around it so you don’t have to solder or sew to make it work. You can power it from USB, a AAA battery pack, or with a Lipoly battery (for advanced users). Just program your code into the board then take it on the go!
- ATmega32u4 Processor, running at 3.3V and 8MHz
- MicroUSB port for programming and debugging with Arduino IDE
- USB port can act like serial port, keyboard, mouse, joystick or MIDI
Circuit Playground has built-in USB support. Built in USB means you plug it in to program it and it just shows up. All you really need is a Micro-B data/sync USB cable – not included! With the new 1.6.4+ Arduino IDE, it takes only a few seconds to add support. The Circuit Playground has USB HID support, so it can act like a mouse or keyboard and attach directly to computers.
Here’s some of the great goodies baked in:
- 10 x mini NeoPixels, each one can display any color
- 1 x Motion sensor (LIS3DH triple-axis accelerometer with tap detection, free-fall detection)
- 1 x Temperature sensor (thermistor)
- 1 x Light sensor (phototransistor)
- 1 x Sound sensor (MEMS microphone)
- 1 x Mini speaker (magnetic buzzer)
- 2 x Push buttons, left and right
- 1 x Slide switch
- 8 x alligator-clip friendly input/output pins
Includes I2C, UART, and 4 pins that can do analog inputs/PWM output - All 8 pads can act as capacitive touch inputs
- Green “ON” LED so you know its powered
- Red “#13” LED for basic blinking
- Reset button
Technical Details
- Check out our detailed tutorial for pinouts, driver installation, Arduino IDE, and more!
- Outer Diameter: ~50.6mm / ~2.0″
- Weight: 8.5g
- Schematic, Datasheets, EagleCAD PCB files, and Fritzing are available in the product tutorial
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