Original Sinterklaas surprise for tech enthusiasts

A beautiful Dutch tradition, which we should definitely maintain, is the Sinterklaas surprise. Once a year we can indulge ourselves with an original surprise, with which we fool the recipient of the gift, just let ourselves be creative or let us surprise you.

As true tech enthusiasts, we naturally opt for funny surprises that incorporate fun technical gadgets. For inspiration, here are a few nice videos of surprises. They are ordered from easy to difficult. The first two surprises are easy to make. The last two are reserved for the experienced hands, in the field of electronics.

Simple tech surprise

WiWillemijn made this simple, yet surprising and also working gingerbread machine. Okay, technically these are called spice nuts, but whiners go in the bag to Spain. You don’t need more than an empty soda bottle and a container. Don’t have much time? Then this surprise is easy to make and you can still have a lot of fun with it.

The escape room surprise

Laugh, screech, roar with this surprise, where the victim has to rack his or her brain to get the gift. Making this surprise is a double pleasure, both during the making and when unpacking.

Puzzle surprise with Arduino

MakerDad made this absolutely awesome surprise for his sister. He only knew that she wanted something with furniture. So he came up with the following idea. The box will only open if you put the furniture in the right position. This is many hours of handiwork, but the result can really be called breathtaking.

Mathematical surprise

This surprise also uses an Arduino and servo motors. Mathematician Ionica Smeets, is taken aback here. She once claimed that 9 is a prime number and that is of course asking for a teasing joke. But in the end she manages to crack the surprise. The video also shows how the surprise works.

More technical surprise ideas can be found, for example, in Rolf Hut’s book, Crazy ideas for making your own surprises.