When learning about electricity, students are typically asked to complete a simple circuit involving a battery, wire, and lightbulb. This activity can be enhanced by adding discussion and discourse and can take on a unique final form in the case of "The Friendship Detector." In such electrical circuit activities, the completed circuit is usually confirmed by a glowing incandescent bulb. This article describes circuitry lessons using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead. These hands-on exercises help students better understand electricity by: (1) building multiple circuits; (2) demonstrating their knowledge of how the electrical energy changes with each new circuit and configuration; and (3) applying what they have learned by engineering an authentic and useful electrical device that performs a specific task. Teachers can connect these activities to aspects of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS").