We introduce a visual representation of qubits to assist in explaining quantum computing to students who lack the formal mathematics, and to a broad audience. The representation follows from physical devices that we developed to explain superposition, entanglement, measurement, phases, interference, and quantum gates. We have developed several hands-on teaching kits for students to manipulate objects that use this representation and to explain some applications, including quantum teleportation, quantum cryptography, and quantum nonlocality.