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Projects for Kids at Maker Faire 2013 - New York
( More on Maker Faire at Maker Junior at Maker Faire 2013 - New York )
There were over 650 exhibitors at the Maker Faire in New York City. Many thanks to Jeff at Stem Design Labs for helping out at the booth so I could get away.
The Maker Junior booth was in the Young Maker's tent. Around us were lots of schools demonstrating what their students were doing. The United Nations International School is a private school in New York that has a maker space called the CoLaboratory. They were showing some cardboard quiz games that I really liked.
In the booth behind us, the Marymount School was displaying some student projects that included clothing made from recycled materials. Take a close look at this project to see what the flag is made from.
Farther back in the tent was the Brooklyn Robot Foundry. They have afterschool classes, summer sessions and birthday parties for kids to build robots. This robot, that was built at one of their summer sessions, gives free hugs!
My son and I also had a chance to talk with Mike Carroll, who's created a character and written a book about Dewey Mac, a 12-yr old detective who creates gadgets. Mike was giving away Dewey Mac's Lie Detector kits. You can be sure we're going to try this out.
Another booth we really liked was TakeItApart from Rochester, NY. Have you ever seen the prism from inside a camera before? I've got an old film camera that we'll be taking apart at our Break and Make class on October 22.
We are also looking forward to playing around with some Duct Tape Bling. I found some tie-dyed patterned duct tape so we're ready to go.
This is only a small part of what there was available to see and make at the Faire. You could make LED Pinnies at the Make booth or a marshmallow gun out of PVC piping. There was a fantastic Iron Man costume, Spin Bots, Little Bits workshops, sewing, woodworking, welding, and coffee pouring robots. We even saw a golf club that was turned into an electric guitar. It was inspiring to walk around and see the creativity and imagination at work. It's worth taking the time to find out if there is a Maker Faire happening near you!