Allen’s Car
Here is a great example of how a visitor can really come prepared to MAKESHOP. Allen visits the Museum a lot and although there are lots of things to play with at the Museum he sometimes brings his own toys as well. During this particular visit his toys completely inspired him to create something in MAKSHOP. He wanted to make…
A Practical Laser Cutter Project
I had the opportunity to use our laser cutter to create something practical for a change. We usually use our laser cutter to experiment with visitors and demonstrate the use of a laser to cut or etch different materials. I was asked to create this project for Tula Organic Salon and Spa. They wanted to laser cut a stencil so…
Mobile MAKESHOP: Building Circuit Blocks
When I visited the Children’s Museum of the Ohio Valley for my first site visit there was a day camp at the Museum full of kids from the same school. The kids were used to doing crafts and using materials like glue and tape. I decided to build a bunch of circuit blocks with these kids. I got out most of…
Maker Faire 2013
The third Pittsburgh Mini-Maker Faire was held in September here at the Museum, presented with HackPGH. As always, it was a lot of fun. I spent most of my time in MAKESHOP drawing with robots and teaching people how to solder. But I did get a chance to see all of the fun inventions and ideas that the makers were…
Open Source PinBall
Christian built a pinball machine… Well, he built a box with a ramp out of pegboard. The rest of our staff really helped turn it into a full-fledged pinball machine. We encouraged visitors to add their own obstacles, ramps, scoring systems, etc. This open-source pinball machine is my favorite new toy in MAKESHOP (sorry laser cutter). The additions to it are…
Pinball
Lauren, one of our Maker Corps Members, shows off one of our summer projects: While the month of June was themed “cardboard arcade”, there was one game that has lived through many iterations over these summer months, and that is the pinball machine. While Christian made the basic body of the machine, it was a collaboration between Teaching Artists and…
More Magnets?
As usual we are always prototyping or experimenting with something new (or old) in MAKESHOP. This particular day we decided to continue our exploration of magnets. Magnets are something that really seems to intrigue the entire staff of MAKESHOP. I found some plastic tanks in the basement and decided to them to create some new magnetic prototypes. We tried to…
Making a Board Game
How do you make a board game? All you really need is a table, pencils, a stack of paper and your imagination. A couple of weeks ago we allowed visitors to play and add to a simple board game that we started. The end result was amazing…And really challenging. Most of the rules forced you to do some…
Field Trip: Avonworth Elementary
Recently our Maker Corps Members and I visited Avonworth Elementary to hang out with some second and third graders and their teachers. We presented them with a design challenge. We put the kids into four groups and challenged them with the task of creating a structure out of recycled materials and tape that could support a certain amount of weight. Our…
Field Trip: CC Mellor Memorial Library
This summer my fellow Teaching Artists and I will be visiting schools and libraries all around Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas to conduct workshops, help teachers and generally having fun. I have decided to document all of my adventures here on the blog. My first trip was to the lovely CC Mellor Memorial Library in Edgewood. I teach afterschool classes…