The awesome folks from DIY.org will be coming to Maker Faire Bay Area this year (May 18-19), and they’re going to provide the supplies and space for Cardboard Village, which is, in the words of DIY.org’s Megan Leppla, “an experiment in seeing how kids can collaborate to build their own community using cardboard. They will have limited materials (duct tape, zip ties, Makedo parts, and copious amounts of cardboard).” That sounds like SO much fun! They will have be capturing the activities throughout Maker Faire weekend on camera, and at the end they will have a time-lapse video of the evolution of the village.
For those coming to Maker Faire and bringing youngsters, make a point to stop by DIY.org’s Cardboard Village.
Maker Faire tip: It’s wise to make a list of “must-see” makers/exhibits before you arrive. Browse this year’s makers by category here. Then, once you’re on-site, you can find the maker locations using the handy dandy Maker Faire smartphone app.
If you haven’t checked out DIY.org yet, you should definitely give it a look. It’s an online community for young makers to share their skills and projects, get inspired, and learn to make new creations. But it’s the little details that really make DIY.org shine. When kids sign up for an account, they can choose an avatar from a gallery of beautifully illustrated animal faces: bear, bobcat, lizard, moose, etc. Then it’s time to choose a username. Users can come up with their own, or use the random silly name generator, to get something like “Good Furee,” “Pockets Dynamo,” “Verb Crash,” or “Branch Furball.” On their About page, there is an illustrated portrait of each team member, with their name and where they came from written underneath.
- Some of the DIY.org team members, including MAKE alum Meara O’Reilly!
DIY.org is focused on the idea of learning skills. As a person completes Challenges, they can earn Skill patches (also gorgeously illustrated) with names like Mycologist, Tape Ninja, Backend Dev, Cartographer, Filmmaker, Hardware Hacker, and more. https://diy.org/skills
Some awesome paper/cardboard projects found on DIY.org:
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