Marble Maze
What can you make with an over sized hole punch? A couple of days ago a visitor created a really cool marble maze puzzle type thing. He spent a long time just tinkering with all of the different pieces of recycled materials in MAKESHOP. He eventually settled on using several tubes and a cardboard box that already had some holes punched out…
Light Painting Results
We have finally gone beyond the prototyping stage of Light Painting. Rebecca explained a lot about the process in this blog post. I have had some more time to set up the workshop side of MAKESHOP to better facilitate light painting with our visitors. The exploration of this technique is really fun. I have had kids and adults of all…
Activated Origami
This was really cool workshop taught by one of our favorite guest makers, Sibel Deren Guler. Visitors were able to explore and learn how to create several origami projects. They were then encouraged by Deren and me to add lights and motors to their creations. This was the first time I witnessed activated origami and I loved it. These special…
The Next Iteration
It is always great to see visitors returning to the Museum with projects that they started in MAKESHOP. This specific project was a wooden car that a boy and his grandfather had started building in MAKESHOP in June. They were hoping to add some more things to their car. They certainly came on the right day. We were prototyping some…
Boomerangs. They’re coming back.
I love boomerangs. No matter how much I understand the physics behind them, there’s still something magical and artistic about them. I’ve made a few at home, but wanted to make some with kids here, and no visitor would be up for the many hours of sawing, sanding, testing, sanding, finishing, sanding, and other frustration that comes with making a…
Disguises
A couple of days ago a family came into the MAKESHOP and made some masks. They were so much fun to interact with. They were a genuinely goofy group of people. The two boys immediately knew that they were going to make “bank robber” masks. The mother and daughter designed and built a very intricate mask. During this entire time there…
A plethora of projects…
Augustine and his sister were already hard at work in a corner of the MAKESHOP when I came back from break. They were working on two intricate projects: a wooden truck and a tadpole. These two projects were brought to my attention because Augustine wanted to cut a piece of scrap wood to a certain size. I helped him with…
Masks!
Our theme for the month of October is identity. We’ve decided to explore this theme by creating masks and costumes. A mask is a great way to change your persona. We’ve spent the past couple of days experimenting with different materials and designs. As usual, we invite our visitors to share in this prototyping process. You can learn a lot…
Making Connections
Taking something that was going to be thrown away and giving it a new purpose is always rewarding. The “Book-Shelf” pictured above is a great example of a project that uses entirely re-purposed junk. Actually, “junk” seems like a negative term… Let’s call it “repurposed treasure.” My friend, Becky, wanted to make gift cards for her salon (Tula Organic) in the…
MAKESHOP Superhero Gadgets
We get our fair share of crime-fighting gadgets here in the ‘shop. Grappling hooks come and go in waves, and lightsabers are always popular. We’ve seen Iron Man-style repulsers, and plenty of Batman-inspired costume pieces. There’s a foam samurai getup on one of the dress forms, and I myself am guilty of making a magazine-paper broadsword and plate armor combo. Usability is a huge…