If you've had your students writing/drawing/creating on their iPads you probably quickly noticed that writing or drawing with your finger is not so great. And your students probably aren't too keen on it.
Buy a ton of $10-15 styli online or through my supply catalog, right?
If you've purchased one for yourself, you also know that they aren't the most durable of products out there. The FIRST time I let a friend use my first stylus, they rubbed the rubber nub right off the end. You could get by with buying a ton more cheaper versions like this or this from Amazon, but especially if kids have to share them, they're not going to last for long either.
Innovation time.
I saw this article on Lifehacker over Spring Break featuring this how-to on YouTube from +Walt Mosspuppet to make a capacitive stylus out of a pen, some tape, and the foil wrapper from any candy/granola/protein/energy bar.
Here's my attempt. My favorite part about making these styli (or having kids make their own) is that we're using trash I see the kids throw away nearly every day.
I made 5 today in a little more than an hour, and only took that long because I was trying different methods, seeing which was cleanest for the least time. If you make them how I did in the video, just smushing and taping, you could make at least 3 in about 10 minutes. I was limited most today by materials, not skill or time.
Other DIY Stylus Tutorials
Cheap pocket sized iPhone/iPod Touch stylus