Make: Online: Kids Archives

Kids Archive: Kids

October 22, 2009

Decade of homemade kid costumes

For years I didn't consider myself very creative. Sure, I always decorated the house for holidays, did crafty projects with my kids, refinished furniture, loved to try new recipes, and shunned store-bought costumes for what I think are way better homemade creations, but a crafter? Not really.

These days I'm trying to convince myself that I am indeed a crafter. And when you're surrounded by knitters, crocheters, professional seamstresses, painters, and soft-circuit mavens, you need lots of convincing! I recently went back through photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes that I've made, and gosh darn it, I am a crafter (of sorts). Enjoy the photos after the jump!

PS: Two of the costumes shown were store-bought, or mostly purchased at a store and then embellished with homey touches.See if you can spot them. And one of the boys is a former intern, not one of my kids, exactly.

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October 16, 2009

Digital open winner opens robot shop

We've covered Brennon Williams here before, the precocious 15 year old who runs several science and tech blogs and lectures other teens on the joys of science and following your dreams. He's now a winner of the Digital Open, the online tech expo put together by Boing Boing, Institute for the Future, and Sun, to inspire kids 17 and under to explore science, technology, and making things. Inspired by MAKE/Maker Faire, Brennon has built a simple obstacle-avoiding robot and created a kit of it to sell online. Here, he describes the motivation behind it:

The BW Science Labs Store is an idea I've had for a while now, but it has taken a lot of work to get it up and running. There is currently 1 kit available, the Vivus the Robot kit. I've seen a lot of those really low-quality $20 robots where you clap your hands and they twitch, and I've seen $400 robots with a great deal of functionality. I wanted to make something in between, and that's exactly what Vivus is. During prototyping I wanted to make a "real robot", one that was autonomous and could truly act on its own, while trying to keep the cost down as well.

Digital Open Winner: teen creates a robot shop

More:
If Brennon is our future...
Night sky in a shoe box

October 15, 2009

Boy floats away in homemade UFO (updated)

This is terrifying ...

A 6-year-old boy is floating over northeastern Colorado in a homebuilt lighter-than-air craft and authorities are racing to try and rescue him. The homemade flying saucer , covered in foil and filled with helium, lifted the boy into the air near Fort Collins Thursday morning after the balloon became untethered at the family home. Fort Collins police and other authorities have been alerted and Airtracker 7 has launched in an effort to locate the boy. We're told the boy was near Milliken around noon and was heading southeast at about 7,000 feet, which would be about 2,000 feet above ground level. Skies in the area are partly cloudy and southwest wind speeds are 15 to 20 miles per hour. "It is believed the device could rise to 10,000 feet," said Eloise Campanella, Larimer County Sheriff's Officer spokeswoman. Deputies from Larimer and Weld counties are tracking the balloon as it drifts.

....and it's over. The kid was hiding in the attic.

October 11, 2009

Junkbot student videos

As a summation assignment for the CD scrounging, battery pack and junkbot projects, students made videos showing their junkbots. In the videos, which were made on whatever equipment they had available, they were to show the 'bot, explain what they did to make it, and explain a bit about how it works. Part of the project was a writing assignment where they wrote about their junkbot and what they learned from the project. Not all of the students put the videos online, instead, emailing them in. Having the videos online definitely creates a better, more lasting record.

Grayson writes in his video notes:

Three things I learned about components that I did not use on my junkbot are things about LEDs, stepper motors, and potentiometers. I learned that LEDs only allow electricity to flow in one direction. If you hook up an LED backwards, it will not light up. Another thing I learned is that you cannot control a stepper motor without a computer chip. They are controlled with many coils and one person cannot run one with a single battery pack and a motor. I also learned that potentiometers (variable resistors) control the amount of electricity flowing through a circuit. Potentiometers can control things such as volume, motor speed, light intensity, etc.

What are your classroom projects this year? Do you have videos or photos that you could share with us to show off the creative makers you're working with? Post up some links in the comments, and add some photos to the MAKE Flickr pool.

October 7, 2009

Playgrounds From the 70s

Wow, I didn't really want to believe this, but playgrounds really did look a lot different in the 70s. Dangerous, metal... fun. Post your memories up in the comments!

How-To: Make Monster and Alien Feet

Today on CRAFT: MAKE reader and father of two kids, Dave Simon contributes a great Halloween tutorial on how to make monster and alien feet.

From the article:

Where I work we cannot have elaborate costume festivities. Only one item of clothing can be "Halloweenish". For instance, one year your hat can be the costume, then another year the shoes you wear can be the costume. I intended to be a duck, and wanted to make the flippers. I took an old pair of foam shoes and carefully sprayed expanding foam around them so that I could carve them. They looked good as craggy monster feet, so instead I painted them as is, with gnarly toes and all. My daughter was always borrowing them so I made a pair for her for her third birthday. She loved them in pink and purple. (Monsters can be pretty, you know.) This Halloween, we'll be making some alien feet for my son.

October 5, 2009

OLPC OX controls RepRap, prints OX peripheral

Here's a vid of an OLPC OX that runs a RepRep which is printing out little camera viewfinders for the XO, to help kids line up shots with the laptop's built-in camera.

The OLPC OX and 3D Printing

September 28, 2009

CAD modeling music video

I love the band They Might Be Giants. I love designing 3D objects on the computer. I love turning those designs into real objects. I love this song and video!

September 26, 2009

Debilitatingly cute snowglobe costume

Here's a Halloween unicorn chaser for all you folks who are tired of simulated electrocutions and vomiting robots. Submitted by Flickr user jpotisch to the MAKE Flickr pool.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

September 8, 2009

1:10 scale scratch-built ATV

Our pal Francesco Fondi, of Hobby Media, sent us a link to this staggeringly detailed UAZ-469 ATV. Wikipedia sez of the UAZ-469:

The UAZ-469 is an all-terrain vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by the Red Army and other Warsaw Pact forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service in all state organizations that needed a robust off-road vehicle.

The video kind of goes on forever, but given the impressive craftship in evidence here, I can see how the builder can't get over his own handiwork. His website is in Italian, but there are tons of pics of the build and you can see how he created some of the components, such as 1:10 scale leaf springs.

Fuoristrada UAZ 469b radiocomandato autocostruito in scala 1/10 dal modellista Kostruktor

September 5, 2009

How-To: Program a person

When introducing kids to programming, it's helpful to get them into the mindset of programming. Having this experience will help them to get the concept that they are in charge of what the code does. They should also see that there is a lot of programmed behavior in the devices and systems in our lives.

Supplies:
People
Paper
Pens/pencils
A space to work in, tiled floors can be handy for calibrating moves

Tools
None

Concepts
Programming
Communications systems
Iterative or Design process

Time frame
This takes at least 20 minutes to explain and do. After that, you could use it as a filler activity, where you use it to illustrate a concept in the language that you are learning.

Mastery Objective
Students or participants will know how to create a very simple programming language so that they can command another person to perform simple tasks and explain where programming is present in other parts of their lives.

Process
Have participants get together in groups of twos or threes. Big groups don't work as well.
Each group will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil
Each group creates their own code of simple commands.
Their commands will be written on the piece of paper and then spoken to the programmed person.
The programmed person should not have to read the code, it should be transmitted to that person verbally, or on slips of paper in a sequence.
The programmed person will then carry out the written code as accurately as possible.
Students and participants should use the iterative process, where they try their program and refine it as they go. If they don't test out the program, it may not do what they want, their may be miscommunications or sloppy code that the programmed person does not follow well.
Have each of the groups or pairs demonstrate to the rest of the group what they have programmed.
Each group in turn has a person who calls out the code, and another person who executes the code.
Each person should think of several objects or systems that use programming techniques in their daily life.

Keep it simple
Make a code of at least five lines of code, one command on each line.
They should avoid words like: "and," "next" and "then," which will have the effect of making commands more complex. Implied in the system is that the next line of code or simple command is "next" or "then."

Don't make it impossible
Keep the commands realistic for your situation.
If you are limited on time, they should not repeat movements or events dozens or hundreds of time.
If you are limited on space, they shouldn't have commands like "run for twenty seconds" or "jump eight feet"
If you have regular human beings, they shouldn't have commands like "jump up three feet" or "lift the maple table top"

Extensions
You could have them create a common syntax for their code, making it more consistent.
Create objects of groups of participants, that could all be commanded by one person acting as the transmitter of the code.

If you try this out, please let us know how it goes in the comments. Send in some photos and video to the MAKE Flickr pool and tag it with ProgramAPerson.

September 4, 2009

Free classroom electricity posters

Looking for a way to liven up your maker classroom? How about some spiffy posters? No shipping hassles, here, these are pdf downloads. The files are on the large side, so your size limitation will be on finding a printer big enough to get the size you want. They look like 11" x17" should be no problem.

September 1, 2009

DIY traffic light from a mint tin

MAKE subscriber Paul writes in with a fun little homemade traffic light project he made for his kids using a microcontroller and some junk found around the house, including an Altoids mint tin. I like that the light diffusers made from vending machine toy capsules. There is also a step-by-step guide on his website.

August 27, 2009

Cool cars cast creatively from cans

Sandy, from Hamilton, New Zealand, has created an entire fleet of amazing cars, hot rods, and buggies, all made out of aluminum soda and beer cans.

From his website:

I have always religiously recycled but often spent time looking at the graphics on the can and looking at the shape of the bottom thinking "That could make a really cool wheel". After having an accident which left me with some time to use, I decided to put pencil to paper and try and make a racing car using the bottoms of cans as its wheels, and the graphics as the decoration for the body.

He's devoted a page to each creation, and offers photos, plans, and details on each build, including how many cans each took, and sometimes, who drank the beer ("This is my wife's favourite one. She drank the Guinness, I made the car!!")

Cool punch-out posable robot kits

I really like these "Metabots" posable mecha kits from EnjoyMobil. They are inexpensive but well-made, and the coolest part is that each of the seven printed designs is also available in an all white "prototype" version so you can decorate it yourself.

August 22, 2009

Kids build the village of Hutopolis

Gather a group of potentially bored kids in an open space with tools and a heap of sawmill scraps, add summer vacation and what do you have? Hutopolis!

A village of eight huts was constructed during two weeks in July from timber slabs from an area sawmill, salvaged wood and found items. Each hut is different, based on the children's design, with odd angles and shapes, rooftop lookout posts, windows, doors, ladders and a fire pit under a homemade shelter in the village center.

[via Bill]

August 19, 2009

Tin toy robot invasion at Disney

Recently, I spent some time with my kids in Disney World. One of the highlights of the trip was discovering the toy robot exhibit at the Japan Pavilion in Epcot. I didn't have my good camera with me, but I was able to snap a few pictures. OK, a lot of pictures. You can check out my flickr set here.

In the Maker Shed:

Make, Volume 19 will reveal hands-on methods for building simple robots. Inside this intriguing issue, you'll find complete instructions for creating robots that are not only lifelike, but are also able to detect and respond to things around them. Create your own DIY Drones and Robotic Flies with projects that will keep you riveted!

Subscribe to MAKE, or log in to check out the Digital Edition.

August 18, 2009

Interactive mouth

Josh Goldberg is working on this touch sensitive interactive mouth; it's a science museum installation, rad!

August 17, 2009

Foam walk-along glider

I know my kids would have a lot of fun playing with this project from instructables user 'walkalongaviation'. The glider works best indoors, so it's perfect for those rainy [or just too hot] summer days.

This instructable shows you how to make a walkalong glider by thermoforming a styrofoam sheet. The foam sheet used here was obtained from the Owens Corning Raft-R-Mate product available in the insulation department of most home building supply stores.

More about making a Foam walk-along glider

From the pages of MAKE:

Building an Ornithopter - For millennia, men and women have studied birds, bats, and beetles, observing and experimenting, attempting to determine what humans must do to fly by flapping. MAKE 08 - Page 90. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition & movie.

August 14, 2009

Captain Yo brings the yo-yos

All photo by Ed Troxell

There are good days and bad days here at the MAKE offices. Mostly good, although sometimes the days can be long and very, very busy -- like 2 days before the next issue goes to the printer or a week before Maker Faire.

The day Captain Yo came to visit was a good day.

The Captain had read that one of our talented engineering interns, Eric Chu, was a yo-yo enthusiast and since he lived nearby, he'd contacted us to arrange a meeting. We'd, of course, invited him over to meet Eric and show us his wares.

Captain Yo (aka Don Watson) is an author, inventor and award-winning yo-yo player. His visit to our offices turned into a show-and-tell, a physics lesson, and a performance or two. At first just Eric and he were conversing, then slowly but surely more and more of us in the office came into the conversation to have a look inside his several yo-yo cases; listen to a story or two about past events and his inventions; and glimpse a fancy trick or two.

All in the name of work!