Make is really is a wonderful way to find ideas. Some people have the imagination to come up with all sorts of projects to try, I don’t. But Make takes care of that for you and provides really interesting ideas for things to try out yourself.
The summer fun guide includes over 50 projects for kids of all ages.
Related: Book on Adventures in Making – Awesome Gifts for the Maker in Your Life – The DIY Movement Revives Learning by Doing
Repair Cafes in The Netherlands Give Life Back to Broken Objects
I really like these efforts. We throw away too much stuff that has plenty of useful life left. Also it is a great way to build community. And it is an interesting way to learn about products we use everyday (both by fixing them and having your items fixed). The throw away culture is something we should aim to change. By these actions and also by engineers designing products to be fixed instead of thrown away. I donated to a similar fixer collective in Brooklyn via Kickstarter.
Related: Fix it Goo – Book Explores Adventures in Making – Teaching Through Tinkering
Made by Hand by Mark Frauenfelder, the editor-in-chief of Make magazine. explores his adventures in the world of do-it-yourself.
Frauenfelder spent a year trying a variety of offbeat projects such as keeping chickens and bees, tricking out his espresso machine, whittling wooden spoons, making guitars out of cigar boxes, and doing citizen science with his daughters in the garage. His whole family found that DIY helped them take control of their lives, offering deeply satisfying alternatives for spending time together. Working with their hands and minds helped them feel more engaged with the world around them.
Frauenfelder also profiles fascinating “alpha makers” leading various DIY movements and grills them for their best tips and insights. He offers a unique perspective on how earning a few calluses can be far more rewarding than another trip to the mall.
Related: Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids – Gifts for the Maker in Your Life – science books – Teaching Through Tinkering
See the full Sylvia’s Super-Awesome MAKE Holiday Gift Guide 2011
Related: Science and Engineering Gadgets and Gifts – Get Your Own Science Art – Siftable Modular Computers – Arduino: Open Source Programmable Hardware
The video and the article give you a good start on understanding schematics. There are 2 ways to show wires crossing in a schematic (the video shows one, the article shows both). Learning how to read a schematic gives you the ability to go many different directions with your home engineering efforts. Have fun.
Related: Arduino: Open Source Programmable Hardware – EZ-Builder Robot Control Software – Building a Windmill to Generate Electricity by Reading and Experimenting – Teaching Through Tinkering
You can get EZ-Builder Robot Control Software and try this out yourself.
Related: Arduino: Open Source Programmable Hardware – Robots That Start as Babies Master Walking Faster Than Those That Start as Adults – Robot Built Largely From Old TV Parts
The maker movement is excellent. As the program suggests it also serves to show many people enjoy engineering and making things work. Kids love to learn to accomplish things. Memorizing boring science details is not as interesting or a very useful way to create the kinds of innovative scientists and engineers that can aid our economy.
Related: Teaching Through Tinkering – Making Electricity from Wind – Home Halloween Engineering: Gaping Hole Costume
Calling all Inventors, Makers and Hackers. This is a fun idea for a hacker invitation. Teams decode the invitation embedded in hardware to reveal their password for an invitation to the creation event.
Related: Botball 2009 Finals – Teen Goalie Designs Camouflage Pads – Engineers in the Workplace
Very fun presentation by 10 year old on 3D printing and the open source Makerbot at Ignite Phoenix.
Related: 3D Printing is Here (2009 post looking at 3D printers) – Open Source 3-D Printing – Expensive Ink (for regular printers)
Fun, an engagement ring that plays a 20 second audio clip “Shelina, I’ll love you forever. Marry Me!…Shelina, I’ll love you forever. Marry Me!” made by artist and inventor Luke Jerram.
Using the ring, I proposed to Shelina in a hot air balloon over Bristol in 2005. We’ve since got married and had 2 children Maya and Nico.
Much better than marketing driven expensive diamonds, in my opinion.
Related: Camera Fashion – Get Your Own Science Art – Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard Using Wii Remote – Cellphone Microscope
This great Halloween costume by Evan Booth shows what a bit of imagination and engineering can do. A projection screen over his stomach displays a live video image of a camera on his back giving the illusion of a gaping hole. Photos via flickr. Very cool. Lets see what costumes Curious Cat readers can come up with.
Related: home engineering posts – Build Your Own Tabletop Interactive Multi-touch Computer – Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard Using Wii Remote – Awesome Cat Cam
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